UNIVERSITY  OF 
NORTH  CAROUNA 

School  o  f    Library 
Science 


". 


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in  2011  with  funding  from 
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UNIVERSITY  OF  N.C.  AT  CHAPEL  HILL 


00022092307 


COUSIN   LUCY 


SEA- SHORE 


AUTHOR  OF  THE  EOLLO  BOOKS. 


A  NEW  EDITION, 
REVISED  BY   THE   AUTHOR. 


NEW  YORK: 
CLARK,   AUSTIN   &   SMITH, 

3    PARK   KOW   AND    3    ANN-STEEET. 

1854. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1842, 

By  B.  B.  MUSSEV, 

In  the  Clerk  8  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  Massachusetts. 


PREFACE. 


This  volume,  with  its  companion, 
Cousin  Lucy  among  the  Mountains, 
is  intended  as  a  continuation  of  Lucy's 
history,  four  volumes  of  which  have  been 
already  published.  They  present  to  the 
juvenile  reader  an  account  of  the  gradual 
progress  made  by  our  little  heroine  in 
the  acquisition  of  knowledge,  and  in  the 
formation  of  character,  though  in  very 
different  scenes  from  those  in  which  the 
incidents  of  the  preceding  volumes  have 
been  laid. 


60 


v?f# 


rA 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    I.                           ftp. 
The  Round  Room,.... y 

CHAPTER   II. 
An  Invitation, 23 

CHAPTER  III. 
A  Long  Ride, 33 

CHAPTER   IV. 
Aunt  Mary's, 46 

CHAPTER  V. 
The  Library, 55 

CHAPTER  VI. 
The  Sea-Shore, 67 

CHAPTER  VII. 
Walks  and  Rides,... 80 


8  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  VIIi.  Page. 

A  True  Story, 91 

CHAPTER  IX. 
The  Rescue, 100 

CHAPTER  X. 
Boating, 116 

CHAPTER  XI. 
The  Lighthouse,... 129 

CHAPTER  XII. 
Going  to  Town, 146 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
Willie's  Ride, 157 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
Blind  Jack, 163 

CHAPTER  XV. 
Going  Home, 179 


LUCY    ON    THE    SEA-SHORE. 


CHAPTER    1. 

THE  ROUND  ROOM. 


Lucy  had  a  little  chamber  of  her  own.  It  was 
as  high,  in  the  middle  of  it,  as  other  chambers, 
but  the  ceiling  sloped  away  on  one  side,  so  that, 
around  behind  her  bed,  there  was  scarcely  room 
for  Lucy  herself  to  stand  upright.  And  yet 
Lucy  was  not  very  large,  for  she  was  but  seven 
years  old.  She  often  wondered  why  the  ceiling 
of  her  chamber  was  not  made  level,  like  other 
chambers ;  but  she  never  thought  to  ask  her 
mother. 

In  her  chamber  there  was  a  little  book-case 
with  three  shelves  in  it,  and  a  curtain  before  it,  to 
keep  the  dust  out.  She  kept  her  picture-books 
and  her  story-books  on  the  two  upper  shelves,  and 
her  playthings  upon  the  lower  shelf.     The  lower 


10  LUCY    ON    THE    SEA-SHORE. 

shelf  was  level  with  the  floor,  and  the  top  of  the 
bookcase  was  not  higher  than  her  head,  so  that 
she  could  reach  every  part  of  it  very  conve- 
niently. 

Lucy  sometimes  got  tired  of  play,  and  then  she 
used  to  go  and  ask  her  mother  what  she  should 
do.  On  such  occasions,  her  mother  had  several 
times  sent  her  up  stairs  to  arrange  her  books  in 
the  bookcase.  She  did  not  give  her  this  to  do 
as  play,  because  she  knew  that  she  was  tired 
of  play,  and  would  probably  not  be  any  better 
pleased  with  this  than  with  any  other  amusement. 
So  she  assigned  it  to  her  as  work.  But,  then, 
though  Lucy  used  to  go  to  it  reluctantly,  as  to  a 
task,  she  always  became  soon  very  much  inter- 
ested in  it,  finding  continually  something  new  in 
the  pictures,  as  she  opened  the  books  to  look  at 
them,  in  order  to  determine  where  to  arrange  them. 

One  rainy  day,  Lucy  could  not  go  to  school. 
She  was  very  sorry  for  this,  for  Marielle  had 
promised  to  bring  a  painting  of  a  large,  beauti- 
ful butterfly  to  the  school  that  day,  to  show  her. 
Marielle  was  a  great  friend  of  Lucy's  at  school. 

Lucy  watched  the  skies  till  after  nine  o'clock ; 
but  there  was  no  prospect  of  a  cessation  of 
rain.  Then  she  sat  with  her  mother  for  an  hour 
or  two,  sewing.     At  last,  she  got  tired  of  sewing  ; 


THE    ROUND    ROOM.  11 

she  did  not  know  what  to  do.  So  her  mother 
let  her  have  her  paint-box,  and  Lucy  tried  to 
paint  a  butterfly.  She  traced  the  outline  from  a 
picture  which  she  found  in  one  of  her  picture- 
books,  by  holding  it  up  to  the  window  ;  and  thus 
she  made  a  drawing.  She  painted  the  butterfly 
as  well  as  she  could,  and  then  she  painted  a 
horse,  and  next  a  farm-house  with  a  brown  roof, 
and  black  smoke  coming  out  of  the  chimney. 
By  this  time,  the  colors  which  her  mother  had 
rubbed  for  her  upon  the  saucer  were  pretty 
nearly  exhausted,  and  the  water  in  her  tumbler 
had  become  very  turbid.  Besides,  she  was  tired 
of  painting,  and  she  went  to  her  mother  to  know 
what  she  should  do  next. 

"  I  think  it  is  very  evident  what  you  ought  to 
do  next,"  said  her  mother. 

"  What  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

Her  mother  looked  towards  the  table,  where 
Lucy's  painting  apparatus  was  lying,  but  said 
nothing. 

"  Put  my  things  away  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

"  Certainly,"  said  her  mother. 

So  Lucy  took  her  tumbler  and  saucer  to  the 
pump,  and  washed  and  wiped  them,  and  then 
put  them  away.  She  looked  over  the  papers 
which  were  left  upon  the  table,  and  cut  out  the 


12  LUCY    ON    THE    SEA-SHORE. 

little  pictures  which  she  had  made,  and  which  she 
wished  to  keep,  and  then  gathered  up  all  the 
other  papers  and  scraps,  and  threw  them  into  the 
kitchen  fire.  She  carried  the  brushes  and  the 
pencil,  and  placed  them  upon  her  mother's  paint- 
box, in  a  little  parlor  closet,  where  her  mother 
kept  it,  and  then  put  down  the  leaf  of  the  table, 
where  she  had  been  at  work,  and  set  back  the 
chair.  Thus  the  room  was  restored  to  order 
again.  Her  mother  had  taught  her,  before,  how 
to  put  her  painting  apparatus  away. 

It  was  now  nearly  dinner-time,  and  Lucy 
busied  herself  for  some  time  in  setting  the  table. 
It  still  continued  to  rain.  She  asked  her  mother 
if  she  thought  it  would  stop  raining,  so  that  she 
could  go  to  school  in  the  afternoon.  Her  mother 
said  that  she  could  not  go  to  school  at  any  rate, 
because,  even  if  it  should  cease  to  rain,  the  streets 
would  be  too  wet  for  her  to  go  out. 
At^  dinner-time,  her  mother  said,  — 
"  Now,  Lucy,  after  dinner  you  may  have  hall 
an  hour  to  play,  and  then  I  want  to  have  you 
finish  arranging  your  books." 

Lucy  said,  "  Very  well ;  I  will  go." 
Now,  Lucy  had  a  large,  flat  cushion,  which  her 
mother  had  made  for  her,  when  she  was  a  little 
girl,  to  sit  upon,  on  the  floor.     She  called  it  her 


THE    ROUND    ROOM.  13 

divan.  It  was  black,  and  it  was  made  pretty 
strong. 

So,  when  the  half  hour  had  expired,  Lucy  took 
her  divan,  and  carried  it  up  stairs,  and  placed  it 
before  her  bookcase.  She  opened  the  doors  of 
her  bookcase,  and  stood  looking  a  few  minutes  at 
the  interior. 

The  plan  which  Lucy  had  adopted  for  arran- 
ging her  books  was,  to  put  the  prettiest  and  most 
interesting  ones  upon  the  upper  shelf,  and  the 
others  upon  the  second  shelf,  and  to  place  all  the 
books  upon  each  shelf,  regularly,  in  little  piles,  ac- 
cording to  their  size  and  shape. 

After  Lucy  had  been  about  an  hour  at  her 
work,  her  mother  went  up  to  see  how  she  got 
along.  She  found  her  seated  upon  her  divan, 
before  her  bookcase,  with  three  books  in  her  lap, 
and  one  in  her  hand,  open  before  her. 

"Well,  Lucy,"  said  her  mother,  "have  you 
got  your  books  arranged  ?  " 

"  Why,  no,  mother,"  said  Lucy ;  "lam  read- 
ing this  story  of  Blind  Jack.  It  is  a  very  pretty 
story.  I  put  the  book  on  the  low  shelf  a  few 
days  ago,  but  now  I  am  going  to  take  it  out,  and 
put  it  on  the  high  shelf.  I  think  it  is  one  of  the 
prettiest  books  I  have.  There  is  another  story  in 
it  about  the  sand  desk.  Mother,"  she  continued, 
2 


14  LUCY    ON    THE    SEA-SHORE. 

"  should  you  like  to  have  me  read  to  you  the 
story  about  the  sand  desk,  when  I  come  down  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  replied  her  mother;  "  you  may  put  up 
your  books,  and  come  down,  and  read  it  to  me 
now,  if  you  please." 

"  Well,"  said  Lucy.  So  she  put  her  books 
upon  the  shelf,  and  took  her  divan  under  her 
arm,  and  went  down  stairs.  She  found  her 
mother  in  the  round  room. 

The  round  room  was  not,  as  its  name  might 
imply,  really  round.  It  was  so  called  because  it 
had  a  curve  in  one  side,  where  there  was  a  bow 
in  the  house.  This  bow  was  towards  the  south, 
and  the  window  opened  down  to  the  floor,  so  that 
they  could  walk  out  when  the  window  was  up. 
It  was  a  small  room,  and  a  very  pleasant  one  to 
sit  in,  especially  on  rainy  days  ;  for  there  was  a 
very  pleasant  prospect  of  the  road  from  the  bow 
window.  On  one  side  of  the  window  in  the  bow 
there  was  a  work-table,  and  on  the  other  side  a 
little  case  of  books,  with  small  drawers  below. 
Lucy's  mother  was  seated  in  this  room,  looking 
towards  the  window,  when  Lucy  came  in  with 
her  book  and  her  divan.  She  put  her  divan 
down  upon  the  floor,  under  the  window,  between 
the  table  and  the  secretary,  and  sat  upon  it. 

She  asked  her  mother  if  she  was  ready  to  hear, 


THE    SAND    DESK.  15 

and  her  mother  said  she  was.     So  Lucy  began  as 
follows :  — 

"THE  SAND  DESK. 

"  Maria  was  a  little  girl,  who  lived  in  a  log 
house,  in  the  woods,  near  the  shore  of  a  lake. 
There  was  a  sandy  beach  by  the  side  of  the  lake, 
near  the  house,  where  Maria  used  to  go  and  play. 

"  Maria's  father  was  a  farmer.  He  had  sheep, 
and  oxen,  and  cows,  and  a  horse,  and  plenty  to 
eat,  and,  in  the  winter,  wood  enough  to  make  great 
blazing  fires  in  his  large  stone  fireplace.  But  he 
had  no  books,  and  no  pen  and  ink  to  write  with. 
He  had  one  Testament,  partly  worn  'out,  and  an 
inkstand  on  a  high  shelf;  but  the  ink  had  all  dried 
up.  Maria  was  sorry,  because  she  wanted  to 
learn  to  write.  She  was  a  very  little  girl.  She 
had  not  yet  learned  to  read,  though  her  mother 
had  showed  her  some  of  the  letters  in  the  Testa- 
ment ;  and  sometimes  she  would  sit  down  upon  a 
block  in  the  chimney  corner,  and  turn  over  the 
leaves,  and  see  how  many  letters  she  could  find 
that  she  knew. 

"  One  summer  morning,  she  rambled  away  bare- 
footed, and  without  any  bonnet  upon  her  head, 
down  to  the  shore  of  the  pond.     She  never  had 


16  LUCY    ON    THE    SEA-SHORE. 

had  any  bonnet,  though  her  mother  had  promised 
to  make  her  one,  when  she  was  big  enough  to 
milk.  When  she  got  down  to  the  beach,  the 
water  looked  beautifully.  It  was  smooth  and 
still,  and  there  was  a  great  rock  at  a  little  dis- 
tance from  the  shore,  with  a  rugged  top,  which 
was  reflected  in  the  water.  The  sand  upon  the 
beach  was  white  and  smooth,  and  it  yielded  a 
little  to  her  step,  so  that  her  bare  feet  made  a  very 
distinct  and  perfect  impression  upon  it. 

"  Maria  took  up  a  pointed  stick,  which  was  lying 
upon  the  shore,  and  she  found  that  she  could 
mark  upon  the  sand  beautifully  with  it.  First 
she  made  an  O  ;  then  she  made  an  S ;  then  she 
tried  to  make  the  figure  of  a  dog,  but  this  she 
could  not  do  very  well.  She  then  made  several 
other  letters,  as  well  as  she  could  remember  the 
shapes  of  them ;  and,  when  she  got  tired  of  this, 
she  walked  about,  drawing  the  stick  after  her, 
with  a  waving  motion,  until  she  had  covered  the 
whole  beach  with  serpentine  and  zigzag  lines. 

"After  about  an  hour,  she  went  home,  and  told 
her  mother  what  a  fine  time  she  had  had,  marking 
upon  the  sand. 

" '  Yes,'  said  her  mother,  '  I  read,  when  I  was 
a  little  girl,  that,  in  some  parts  of  the  world,  chil- 
dren learn  to  write  by  writing  upon  sand.' 


THE    SAND    DESfi..  17 

" '  Where  did  you  get  your  books,  mother,  to 
read  in,  when  you  were  a  little  girl  ? ' 

"  '  O,  I  had  several  books  when  I  was  young,' 
said  her  mother.  '  My  father  gave  me  some, 
and  my  uncles  gave  me  some,  and  some  I  had  in 
school.' 

« (  Were  there  any  pictures  in  them  ? '  said 
Maria. 

"  '  Yes,'  said  her  mother, '  plenty  of  pictures.' 

"  l  And  where  are  all  the  books  now  ? ' 

" '  O,  I  don't  know  ;  I  did  not  take  very  good 
care  of  them,  and  so  they  got  lost  and  destroyed.' 

"  '  I  wish  I  had  some  of  them,'  said  Maria ;  1 1 
would  take  good  care  of  them.' 

"  '  I  wish  I  had  them  all,'  replied  her  mother. 
'  I  did  not  know  that  I  should  ever  want  them 
as  much  as  I  do  now;  if  I  had,  I  should  have 
kept  them  very  safe.  But  now  they  are  all 
gone.' 

"  That's  the  end,  mother,"  said  Lucy,  shutting 
up  the  book. 

"  It's  a  pretty  good  story,"  said  Royal ;  "  what 
book  is  it  in  ?  " 

Lucy  looked  up,  and,  to  her  surprise,  saw  her 
brother  Royal  standing  in  the  door-way.  He  had 
2* 


18  LUCY    ON    THE    SEA-SHORE. 

come  in  while  Lucy  was  reading,  and  had  stopped 
to  hear  her  story. 

"  It  is  in  my  elephant  book,"  said  Lucy. 

She  always  called  that  her  elephant  book,  be- 
cause it  had  the  picture  of  an  elephant  in  it,  near 
the  beginning. 

"  Is  it  1 "  said  Royal.  "  I  mean  to  read  your 
elephant  book  some  day  ;  but  now  come  with  me 
and  see  it  clear  away." 

"  Is  it  clearing  away  ?  "  said  Lucy,  starting  up. 

11  Yes,"  said  Royal,  "  the  clouds  are  breaking, 
ind  pretty  soon  the  sun  will  be  out." 

Lucy  jumped  up  off  her  divan,  and  began  to 
look  out  of  the  window. 

"  O,  you  can't  see  there,"  said  Royal ;  "  come 
with  me  to  the  front  door." 

So  Lucy  took  her  divan  under  her  arm,  and, 
holding  her  book  in  her  other  hand,  she  went  off 
with  Royal  to  the  front  door.  Royal  opened  the 
door  wide.  Lucy  looked  out,  and  saw  that  it  had 
stopped  raining.  It  was  warm ;  so  she  put  her 
divan  down  in  the  door-way,  and  sat  upon  it,  with 
her  bock  in  her  hand.     Royal  sat  by  her  side. 

"  R(  yal,"  said  she,  "  do  you  think  the  sun  will 
come  lint  before  I  have  time  to  carry  up  my  ele- 
phant book,  and  put  it  in  my  bookcase  ?  " 


THE    ROUND    ROOM.  19 

"No,"  said  Royal,  "  not  if  you  are  quick." 

So  Lucy  ran  off  up  stairs,  and  put  away  hei 
book,  and  pretty  soon  came  back  again.  As  she 
came  to  the  top  of  the  stairs,  she  asked  if  the  sun 
had  come  out. 

"  Why,  you  can  tell,"  said  Royal,  "  by  looking 
on  the  floor." 

"  How  can  I  tell  by  the  floor  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

"  Why,  it  would  shine  in  upon  the  floor,"  said 
.Royal,  "  if  it  had  come  out  through  the  clouds." 

"  Well,  tell  me  plainly,  is  it  out  or  not  ? " 

"  No,"  said  Royal ;  "  but  I  can  see  some  blue 
sky." 

Lucy  came  down  the  stairs  as  fast  as  she  could, 
to  see  the  blue  sky.  She  found  that  the  appear- 
ance of  the  clouds  had  altered  a  great  deal  while 
she  had  been  up  stairs.  The  clouds  were  broken 
and  white  in  many  places,  and  there  were  two 
openings,  through  which  she  could  see  the  blue 
sky.  In  a  few  moments,  the  rays  of  the  sun  burst 
forth  from  one  of  them  in  great  splendor. 

"  There's  the  sun  ! "  said  Lucy.  "  How  it 
dazzles  my  eyes !  " 

The  whole  landscape  looked  smiling  and  pleas- 
ant, though  glittering  with  the  water  which  had 
fallen.  Drops  hung  from  the  trees,  and  little- 
streams  flowed  along  the  sides  of  the  road ;  and 


20  LUCY    ON    THE    SEA-SHORE. 

there  was  one  quite  large  pool  of  water,  which  had 
been  left  by  the  shower,  in  the  middle  of  the  road, 
opposite  to  the  house. 

"  If  it  wasn't  so  wet,"  said  Lucy,  "  I  should 
like  to  go  and  take  a  walk." 

"  If  we  had  a  horse  and  chaise,"  said  Royal, 
"  we  might  go  and  take  a  ride.     There  comes  a 
man  now,  riding,"  he  continued. 
-    «  Where  ?  "  asked  Lucy. 

"  There,"  said  Royal,  pointing  off  in  the  direc- 
tion in  which  Lucy  went  when  she  went  to  school. 
"  Do  you  see  him  through  the  trees  ?  " 

Lucy  saw  him.  He  was  coming  pretty  fast. 
The  children  watched  him  as  he  drew  near. 

"  I  wonder  if  he'll  trot  right  through  that  great 
pond  of  water,"  said  Royal. 

"  Yes,"  said  Lucy,  "  he  will  have  to ;  it  is 
exactly  in  his  way.  WeMl  see  what  a  spattering 
it  will  make." 

They  watched  the  man  until  he  drew  near  the 
house.  Lucy  then  looked  at  him  very  intently, 
and  said,  — 

"  Why,  Royal,  its  Parker !  " 

"  Parker  ? "  repeated  Royal ;  "  who  is  Parker  ? " 

"  Why,  he's  the  man  that  lives  at  Marielle's ; 
and  he  is  coming  here,  —  isn't  he  ? " 

For  just  as  Lucy  had  said  that  he  was  the  man 


THE    ROUND    ROOM.  21 

that  lived  at  Marielle's,  she  observed  that,  instead 
of  going  directly  on  through  the  pond  of  water, 
he  turned  his  horse  up  towards  their  door.  It 
was  a  large  and  handsome  white  horse.  He  held 
his  neck  very  proudly.  Parker  dismounted,  and 
fastened  the  horse  to  a  post  at  a  corner  of  the 
front  yard,  by  means  of  a  chain  which  was  fast- 
ened into  the  post  for  this  purpose. 

Parker  was  a  tall,  straight,  handsome-looking 
servant  man.  He  advanced  to  the  front  gate, 
opened  it,  and  came  in,  then  stopped  before  Lucy 
and  Royal,  and  took  out  a  letter. 

"  Miss  Lucy,"  said  he,  "  here  is  a  letter  for 
your  mother.  Will  you  give  it  to  her,  with  Lady 
Jane's  compliments  ?  " 

"  Yes,  sir,"  said  Lucy,  "  I  will." 

Lucy  took  the  letter,  and  Parker  returned  to 
his  horse,  threw  the  bridle  over  his  neck,  and  can- 
tered off. 

"  I  wish  I  had  such  a  horse,"  said  Royal. 

"  I  wonder  what  this  letter's  about,"  said  Lucy. 

"  You'd  better  carry  it  right  in  to  mother,"  said 
Royal.  "  I  wonder  why  he  didn't  wait  for  an 
answer.  And,  besides,  I  wonder  why  they  call 
Marielle's  mother  Lady  Jane." 

"  Because  she  is  a  lady,  I'm  sure,"  said  Lucy. 

"  That  isn't  the  reason,"  said  Royal.     "  But  1 


22 


LUCY    ON    THE    SEA-SHORE. 


believe  it  is  because  she  came  from  some  foreign 
country." 

So  Lucy  went  away  with  the  letter  to  her 
mother,  while  Royal  sat  down  upon  the  step 
again,  watching  Parker,  as  he  galloped  slowly 
along  the  road,  saying  to  himself,  "  I  think  he 
oudit  to  have  waited  for  an  answer." 


23 


CHAPTER    II. 

AN   INVITATION. 

Lucy  was  very  curious  to  learn  what  her 
mother's  letter  was  about,  but  her  mother  said  she 
could  not  tell  her  any  thing  about  it. 

"  Why  not,  mamma  ?  "  asked  Lucy. 

"  I  have  nothing  to  say  about  the  reason,"  said 
her  mother. 

"  Shall  you  ever  tell  me  ?  " 

"  Perhaps  so,  and  perhaps  not,"  answered  her 
mother. 

"  Well,  mother,  have  you  any  objection  to  my 
trying  to  guess  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

"  No ;  no  objection  at  all,"  said  her  mother. 

"  Well,"  said  Lucy,  "  I  guess,  then,  that  it's 
to  tell  me  there  is  not  going  to  be  any  school 
to-morrow." 

Lucy  looked  up  to  her  mother,  to  see  whether 
she  had  guessed  right.  But  her  mother  said 
nothing. 

"  Is  that  it,  mother  ? "  said  Lucy. 

"  I  said   that   you   might   guess,"  replied  her 


24  LUCY    ON    THE    SEA-SHORE 

mother,  "  but  I  didn't  say  that  I  should  tell  you 
whether  you  guessed  right." 

"  But,  mother,  what  good  will  it  do  for  me  to 
guess,  if  you  don't  tell  me  whether  I  guess  right  or 
not?" 

" 1  am  sure  I  don't  know,"  replied  her  mother; 
"  I  didn't  propose  to  you  to  guess." 

"  No,"  said  Lucy,  "  that's  true ;  but  then  I  wish 
I  knew.  However,  I  don't  think  that  is  it,  after 
all ;  for  I  don't  believe  that  Lady  Jane  would 
write  a  letter  to  you  just  to  say  there  is  not  going 
to  be  any  school.  It  must  be  something  else.  I 
wish  I  knew  what  it  was." 

"  Is  it  a  pleasant  feeling  for  you,  Lucy,"  asked 
her  mother,  "  to  want  to  know  something  which 
you  cannot  know  ?  " 

"  No,  mother ;  it  is  very  unpleasant." 

"  Then  why,"  said  her  mother,  "  do  you  keep 
your  mind  full  of  it  ? " 

"  I  don't  know  what  you  mean,"  replied 
Lucy. 

"  Why,  you  remain  here,  thinking  of  this  letter, 
and  keeping  yourself  in  a  painful  state  of  mind ; 
whereas  you  might  go  away  and  forget  it." 

"  Well,  I'll  go  away,  and  try  to  forget  it,"  said 
Lucy  ;  "  but  I'm  very  sure  that  I  can't." 

So  Lucy  went  away  ;  but,  instead  of  trying  to 


AN    INVITATION.  25 

forget  the  subject,  she  went  to  ask  Royal  to  help 
her  guess. 

The  contents  of  the  letter  were,  in  fact,  these : 
Lady  Jane  said  that  she  was  intending  to  go  to 
the  sea-side  for  a  month,  and  to  take  Marielle 
with  her ;  and  she  wrote  that  letter  to  ask  Lucy's 
mother  to  let  Lucv  go  too.  She  said  that  Mari- 
elle  was  very  desirous  of  having  Lucy  for  a  play- 
mate, and  that  she  had  herself  been  very  much 
pleased  with  Lucy's  gentle  and  quiet  character, 
and,  if  her  father  and  mother  had  no  objection,  it 
would  give  her  a  great  deal  of  pleasure,  she  said, 
to  have  her  go  with  them.  When  Lucy's  mother 
had  read  the  letter,  she  thought  it  was  not  best  to 
say  any  thing  about  the  plan  to  Lucy  herself,  until 
her  father  had  come  home,  and  it  had  been  de- 
cided whether  it  was  best  to  accept  or  decline  the 
invitation. 

Now,  though  Lucy  had  a  chamber  of  her  own, 
as  is  described  in  the  first  chapter  of  this  book,  she 
only  used  it  as  a  place  of  deposit  for  her  books 
and  playthings,  and  also  to  play  in  when  she  had 
company.  She  usually  slept  in  a  little  room  ad- 
joining her  mother's  bedroom.  Before  her  bed- 
time, her  father  and  mother  had  talked  about  the 
invitation    which  had  been  sent   to   Lucy   from 


26  LUCY    ON    THE    SEA-SHORE. 

Marielle's  mother,  and  they  had  concluded  to 
accept  it,  and  let  Lucy  go.  Accordingly,  towards 
the  latter  part  of  the  evening,  her  mother  came 
into  the  parlor  where  Lucy  and  Royal  were  sit- 
ting at  the  table,  to  tell  Lucy  of  the  decision. 
Royal  had  some  paper  before  him,  on  which  he 
had  ruled  five  parallel  lines ;  and  he  was  trying  to 
write  a  tune.  Lucy  was  cutting  out  images  with 
her  scissors. 

"  Now,  Lucy,  I'll  tell  you  what  was  in  the 
note  from  Lady  Jane,"  said  her  mother. 

"  Well,"  said  Lucy,  "  what  was  it  ?  " 

"  She  says  that  she  is  going  to  spend  a  week  or 
two  at  the  sea-shore,  and  the  note  was  an  invita- 
tion for  you  to  go  with  her." 

"  Well,"  said  Lucy,  in  a  tone  of  great  delight, 
"I  should  like  to  go  very  much.  Is  Marielle 
going  too  ? " 

"  Yes,"  replied  her  mother. 

Royal  stopped  in  the  middle  of  a  demisemi- 
quaver,  which  he  was  making,  and  looked  up, 
listening  very  attentively  to  what  was  said. 

"  O,  I  wish  I  could  go,"  said  he  ;  "  I  wish  I 
could  go.  I  would  row  you  and  Marielle  about 
in  the  boats." 

"  When  are  we  going  ? "  asked  Lucy,  not  pay- 
ing any  attention  to  what  Royal  had  said. 


AN    INVITATION.  27 

"  How  do  you  know  that  you're  going  at  all, 
Lucy  ? "  said  Royal ;  "  it's  nothing  but  an  in- 
vitation, yet." 

"  Yes,"  replied  her  mother,  "  we  have  con- 
cluded to  let  Lucy  go.  They  set  off  in  a  day 
or  two." 

"  Well,"  said  Lucy,  clapping  her  hands,  "  I'm 
very  glad.     1  never  went  to  the  sea-shore." 

"  I  went  once,"  said  Royal,  "  and  got  some 
shells  on  the  beach.  I  wish  you  would  get  me 
some  shells  on  the  beach,  Lucy,"  he  added. 

"  Yes,  I  will,"  said  Lucy.  "  But  what  is  the 
beach  ? " 

"  Why,  it's  the  shore,"  replied  Royal ;  "  a 
smooth  and  sandy  shore.  You  can  walk  all  over 
it,  and  find  shells." 

"  Well,"  said  Lucy,  "  Marielle  and  I  will  get 
some." 

Lucy  began  to  make  a  great  many  inquiries  of 
Royal  about  the  sea-shore ;  but  pretty  soon  her 
mother  told  her  that  it  was  time  for  her  to  go  to 
bed  ;  and  she  accordingly  put  away  her  paper 
and  scissors,  and  followed  her  mother  into  her 
bedroom.  She  was  continually  asking  questions 
about  the  intended  excursion.  Her  mother,  how- 
ever, could  not  answer  them.  She  said  she  did 
not  know  any  of  the  arrangements  which  Lady 


28  LUCY    ON    THE    SEA-SHORE. 

Jane  had  made.  She  did  not  know  how  they 
would  travel,  or  where  they  would  go ;  and  she 
advised  Lucy  to  dismiss  the  subject  from  her  mind, 
and  wait  till  to-morrow,  and  then  she  would  see 
Marielle  at  school,  and  could  ask  her  all  about  it. 

So  Lucy  got  into  her  bed,  and  laid  her  cheek 
upon  her  pillow.;  and,  after  hearing  her  repeat  her 
evening  prayer,  her  mother  bade  her  good  night, 
and  retired  into  her  own  bedroom.  The  door 
between  Lucy's  little  room  and  her  mother's  bed- 
room was  left  open,  so  that  Lucy  could  hear  her 
mother  moving  about  her  room,  while  she  was 
trying  to  go  to  sleep.  She  always  liked  to  have 
this  door  open,  after  she  had  gone  to  bed,  espe- 
cially if  her  mother  was  in  her  bedroom.  Even 
if  she  did  not  speak  to  her  at  all,  the  very  idea 
that  she  was  near,  was  company  for  her. 

"  Mother,"  said  Lucy,  at  length,  after  she  had 
been  silent  for  some  time,  "  shall  we  go  in  the 
stage,  do  you  think  ? " 

"  No,"  replied  her  mother,  "  probably  not.  I 
presume  you  will  go  in  Lady  Jane's  carriage." 

Here  Lucy  was  silent  again  for  some  time. 
At  length  her  modier  heard  her  gently  call  out 
again, — 

«  Mother  ? " 

"  What,  Lucy  ?  "  said  her  mother. 


AN    INVITATION.  29 

"  Do  you  suppose  that  Lady  Jane  will  let  Ma- 
rielle  and  me  go  out  in  any  boats  ? " 

"  I  don't  know,"  said  her  mother.  "  She  will 
do  just  as  she  thinks  best  when  you  get  there. 
But  I.  want  you  to  go  to  sleep  ;  you  had  better 
not  think  any  more  about  your  journey  to-night, 
but  shut  up  your  eyes,  and  go  to  sleep." 

"  But  I  can't  help  thinking  of  it,"  said  Lucy. 

"  Well,  at  any  rate,"  replied  her  mother,  "you 
can  shut  up  your  eyes,  and  not  talk." 

"  I  do  keep  shutting  them  up,"  said  Lucy ; 
"  but  they  won't  stay." 

Her  mother  laughed,  and  said  no  more. 

She  was  constantly  engaged  in  her  room  for 
about  half  an  hour  after  this,  and  then  she  got 
ready  to  go  back  into  the  parlor ;  but,  before  she 
went,  she  had  occasion  to  go  into  Lucy's  room 
again.  Lucy  raised  her  head  suddenly,  and 
looked  at  her  mother,  with  eyes  wide  open. 

"  Why,  Lucy  !  "  said  her  mother ;  "  are  you 
not  asleep  yet  ?  " 

"  No,  mother,"  said  Lucy ;  and  so  saying,  she 
laid  her  head  down  upon  her  pillow  again. 

"  Why  don't  you  go  to  sleep  ?  " 

"  Why,  mother,"  said  Lucy,  "  I  don't  know 
how." 

"  Poor  girl !  "  said  her  mother.  "  It  is  really 
3* 


30 


LUCY    ON   THE    SEA-SHORE. 


hard,  I  suppose."  And  so  saying,  she  went  away, 
and  left  her.  She  came  back  again  about  an 
hour  afterwards,  just  before  she  was  ready  to  go 
to  bed  herself;  and  she  found  Lucy  lying  with  her 
head  upon  the  pillow,  and  her  cheek  upon  her 
hand,  fast  asleep. 


31 


CHAPTER    III. 

A   LONG   RIDE. 

One  beautiful  morning,  a  day  or  two  after  this 
time,  Lucy  found  herself  at  Lady  Jane's,  just  set- 
ting off  on  the  expedition  to  the  sea-shore.  The 
sun  was  shining,  and  the  air  clear,  for  the  dust  of 
the  roads  had  been  effectually  laid  by  the  rain. 
The  trees  and  grass  looked  green,  the  flowers 
bright  and  gay,  and  all  the  birds  were  singing 
merrily.  The  carriage  was  at  a  door  in  a  large 
yard  at  one  side  of  Lady  Jane's  house,  and  a  boy 
was  standing  at  the  heads  of  the  horses,  with  one 
hand  on  the  bridle  of  each  of  them.  The  horses 
were  white,  and  very  large  and  handsome.  They 
stood  quietly  while  Parker  helped  Lady  Jane  and 
the  children  in.  Parker  then  mounted  upon  the 
box,  and  Lady  Jane  and  Marielle  bade  good-by 
to  every  person  who  was  standing  at  the  door, 
and  the  carriage  began  slowly  to  move  out  of  the 
yard.  It  went  under  a  large  arched  gate-way, 
which  had  a  grape-vine  climbing  over  it,  and 
two  great  trees,  one  on  each  side  of  it. 


32  LUCY    ON   THE    SEA-SHORE. 

Lucy  and  Marielle  sat  upon  the  front  seat 
The  carriage  was  very  open  in  front,  so  that  they 
could  see  all  around.  Lady  Jane  sat  upon  the  back 
seat.  She  was  much  older  than  Lucy's  mother, 
and  she  was  dressed  in  black.  Besides,  Lucy 
thought  that  she  always  lcoked  rather  mournful. 

Still  Lucy  liked  Lady  Jane  very  much.  Lady 
Jane  had  always  been  very  kind  to  her.  She 
liked  her  now  more  than  ever,  for  two  reasons : 
one  was,  because  she  had  invited  her  to  go  to  the 
sea-shore  with  her ;  and  the  other  was,  because 
she  had  said  in  her  note  that  she  thought  Lucy 
was  a  very  quiet  and  gentle  little  girl. 

Lucy  had  a  very  pleasant  ride  in  the  carnage 
all  that  day.  About  two  o'clock,  they  stopped  at 
a  hotel  in  a  considerable  village.  First,  they 
went  into  a  large  parlor,  and  sat  down  upon  a 
sofa.  In  a  few  minutes,  Parker  came  in,  followed 
by  a  girl  who  belonged  to  the  hotel,  and  said,  — 

"  Your  rooms  are  ready,  Lady  Jane." 

Lady  Jane,  Marielle,  and  Lucy,  rose  from  the 
sofa,  and  followed  the  girl  out.  She  conducted 
them  through  a  hall  into  a  small  parlor,  in  another 
part  of  the  house.  It  looked  out  into  a  pleasant 
yard  and  garden.  One  of  the  windows  opened 
down  to  the  floor,  so  that  they  could  go  out  by 
it  to  a  yard  outside,  and  thence  into  the  garden 


A    LONG    RIDE.  66 

This  window  was  open.  There  was  a  little  bed- 
room, with  a  bed  in  it;  which  opened  into  this 
parlor.  Lady  Jane  and  the  children  went  in 
there,  and  took  off  their  bonnets,  and  laid  them 
upon  the  bed.  Presently  some  one  knocked  at 
the  little .  parlor  door.  Marielle  went  to  open  it. 
She  found  that  it  was  Parker,  who  had  come  to 
bring  the  work-bao;s  and  travelling  wallets  from 

o  o  o 

the  carriage. 

"  The  dinner  will  be  ready  in  three  quarters 
of  an  hour,  madam,"  said  Parker. 

"  It  is  very  well,"  said  Lady  Jane.  "  How  do 
the  horses  stand  the  journey  ?  " 

"  Very  well,  indeed,  madam,"  said  Parker. 

'  Pin  glad  to  hear  it,"  said  Lady  Jane.  "  Will 
you  look  out  into  this  little  yard  and  garden,  and 
see  if  it  will- do  for  the  children  to  go  out  there 
and  play  till  dinner  is  ready.  On  the  whole, 
they  may  go  out  with  you,  and  you  can  leave 
them  there  if  you  find  it  is  a  safe  and  proper  place 
for  them ;  and  then  I  believe  I  shall  not  want 
any  thing  more.     Let  me  see,  —  is  there  a  bell  ?  " 

Lady  Jane  looked  around  the  room,  and  Parker 
pointed  to  a  bell-pull,  hanging  by  the  side  of  the 
fireplace. 

"  Very  well,"  said  she  ;  "  that  is  all." 

So  Parker  conducted  Marielle  and  Lucy  out 


34  LUCY    ON    THE    SEA-SHORE. 

into  the  garden,  leaving  Lady  Jane  to  rest  herself 
upon  a  sofa  in  the  little  parlor.  Parker  found 
that  the  yard  and  garden  were  very  retired,  and 
perfectly  safe  and  proper  for  the  girls  to  play  in. 
He  accordingly  left'  them  there,  and  then  went 
away. 

In  due  time,  the  children  were  called  to  dinner. 
They  found  a  table  spread  in  their  little  back 
parlor.  Parker  had  just  put  chairs  at  the  table, 
for  Lady  Jane  and  for  the  children.  He  had  on 
a  white  jacket  and  a  white  apron,  and,  when  they 
sat  down  to  the  table,  he  took  his  place  behind 
Lady  Jane's  chair,  and,  during  dinner-time,  he 
helped  them  all  to  what  they  wanted ;  for  Par- 
ker was  a  very  accomplished  servant,  and,  on 
such  occasions  as  this,  he  acted  in  various  ca- 
pacities. 

About  half  an  hour  after  dinner,  they  got  into 
their  carriage  again,  and  rode  away.  Marielle 
and  Lucy  kneeled  up  on  the  cushion  of  the  front 
seat,  and  looked  out  at  the  front  corner  of  the 
carriage,  and  talked  about  the  objects  which  suc- 
cessively came  into  view.  Sometimes  they  passed 
farm-houses,  orchards,  and  fields  covered  with 
corn,  a  few  inches  high.  Now  and  then,  they 
passed  through  a  village,  or  a  little  hamlet  around 
some  stream,  where  there  were  mills  and  a  bridge. 


A    LONG    RIDE.  37 

Then,  again,  their  road  would  lay,  for  a  mile  or 
two,  in  a  wood,  which  shaded  them,  and  made  it 
cool  and  pleasant.  They  rode  on  so  for  some 
time ;  at  last,  the  children  became  tired  of  kneel- 
ing up;  so  they  sat  down  again,  and  talked  to  each 
other  about  what  they  would  do  when  they  should 
get  to  the  sea-shore.  Lucy  said  she  meant  to  get 
some  shells  upon  the  beach. 

"  And  I  mean  to  go  and  sail  in  a  boat,"  said 
Marielle ;  "  that  is,  if  mother  will  let  us.  Shall 
you  let  us  ?  "  said  she. 

':  That  will  depend  upon  what  Parker  says," 
replied  her  mother. 

«  Why  ?  "  asked  Marielle. 

"  O,  if  he  says  he  can  find  a  good  boat,  and  he 
thinks  it  is  safe,  perhaps  I  shall  let  you." 

"  Couldn't  you  go  too,  mother  ? "  said  Ma- 
rielle. 

"  No,"  replied  her  mother,  "  I  do  not  think  I 
shall  go  out  on  the  water." 

"  I  never  sailed  in  a  boat  on  the  sea,"  said 
Lucy.  "  Once  I  sailed  on  a  river  with  my 
father." 

"  When  was  it  ?  "  asked  Marielle. 

"  O,  once,  when  we  were  travelling,"  said 
Lucy  ;  "  I  forget  where.  I  should  like  to  go  and 
sail  in  a  boat  on  the  sea  very  much,  if  Parker  will 
4 


38  LUCY    ON    THE    SEA-SHORE. 

go  with  us.  Do  they  have  any  rafts  on  the 
sea  ? " 

"  Rafts  ? "  repeated  Marielle.  She  did  not 
know  exactly  what  Lucy  meant  by  rafts. 

"  Yes,"  said  Lucy ;  "  when  I  went  on  the 
mountains,  I  saw  a  raft  on  Emery's  Pond." 

"  What  kind  of  a  thing  was  it  ? "  asked  Ma- 
rielle. 

uO,  it  was  made  of  logs.  There  was  a  boy 
there  named  Robert,  and  he  sailed  his  raft  out 
upon  the  water.  He  was  going  to  get  somk 
lilies  ;  only  there  weren't  any." 

"  Lilies  ?  "  said  Marielle. 

"  Yes,  pond  lilies,  —  that  grow  in  a  pond." 

"  In  a  pond  ?  "  repeated  Marielle,  surprised. 

"  Yes,"  said  Lucy  ;  "  the  lilies  grew  out  in  a 
pond,  where  the  water  was  very  deep.  I  saw 
the  leaves,  but  there  were  no  lilies  then." 

"  Why  ?  "  said  Marielle. 

"  Because  it  was  too  late,"  said  Lucy. 

This  conversation  led  to  Lucy's  telling  Marielle 
something  more  about  her  visit  among  the  moun- 
tains ;  and,  after  a  while,  both  gradually  ceased 
talking,  and  rode  along  in  silence,  each  leaning 
back  in  a  corner  of  the  carriage.  After  that,  it 
was  not  a  great  while  before  they  both  fell  asleep. 
They  did  not  wake  again  for  two  hours.     Ma- 


A    LONG    RIDE.  39 

rieile  opened  her  eyes  first,  being  disturbed  by  the 
stopping  of  the  carriage.  The  first  thing  she  ob- 
served was,  that  Lucy  was  asleep  in  her  corner  of 
the  carriage. 

"  Why  ! "  said  she,  "  Lucy  is  asleep,  — and  I 
almost  got  asleep." 

"  Yes,"  said  her  mother  ;  "  I  think  it  was  al- 
most. You  have  been  sound  asleep  these  two 
hours." 

"  Why,  mother,"  said  Marielle,  "  I  did  not 
know  it ;  but  what  are  we  stopping  for  ? " 

"  I  don't  know,"  replied  her  mother. 

Marielle  kneeled  up    on  the  seat  again,  and 
looked  out.     By  this  time,  Lucy  began  to  wak' 
up  too ;  and  they  both  looked  out  to  see  what  wa^ 
going  on.     Parker  had  driven  into  the  yard  of 
hotel,   in  quite   a   large   village.     There   was 
piazza  extending  along  the  side  of  the  house,  ai 
within  the  piazza  several  windows,  and  one 
two  doors.     The  doors  led  into  the   hotel, 
man  came  out  at  one  of  the  doors,  with  a  r 
apron  on. 

"  Will  the  ladies  come  in  ? "  said  he. 

"  Do  you  wish  to  stop,  Lady  Jane  ?  "  sai 
ker.     "  I've  driven  up  here  to  water  the  he 

"  No,  I  believe  not,  Parker,"  said  Ladv 
*  how  iar  is  it  now  to  town  ? " 


40  LUCT    ON    THE    SEA-SHORE. 

"  About  eight  miles,"  replied  Parker  ;  "  we 
shall  be  there  in  little  more  than  an  hour." 

"  Then  we  won't  get  out,"  said  the  lady. 

During  this  conversation,  Lucy  heard  the 
noise  of  a  pump ;  and  she  looked  in  the  direction 
from  which  the  noise  proceeded.  The  pump  was 
a  little  farther  along  in  the  yard.  It  was  painted 
green.  There  was  a  square  basin  of  stone  before 
the  pump,  to  hold  water  for  the  horses  of  travellers 
that  came  there  to  drink.  There  was  one  team 
there  then  —  a  team  of  horses  attached  to  a  mon- 
strous wagon,  loaded  up  high  with  boxes  and  bar- 
rels, all  tied  on  with  ropes.  There  were  four 
horses  to  it.  The  two  foremost  horses  were 
drinking;  out  of  the  basin,  and  a  man  was  holding 
a  pail  to  the  mouth  of  one  of  the  other  horses, 
which  were  behind  them.  The  foremost  horses 
in  the  team  are  called  leaders.  The  pair  behind 
them,  which  are  harnessed  to  the  pole  or  tongue 
of  the  carriage  or  wagon,  are  called  pole-horses. 
The  boy  who  was  pumping  had  his  pail  hung 
upon  an  iron  support,  which  was  attached  to  the 
end  of  the  nose  of  the  pump,  so  that  the  pail, 
while  it  was  hung  there,  caught  all  the  water 
which  he  pumped.  Parker  stood  by  his  horses, 
waiting  for  the  boy  to  bring  a  pail  of  water. 

"  Parker,"   said    Marielle,   "  why    don't  yon 


A    LONG    RIDE.  4.1 

drive  right  up  to  the  pump,  and  let  the  horses 
drink  out  of  that  great  stone  box  ?  " 

"  Because,"  said  Parker,  "  there  is  a  team 
there  in  the  way." 

"  O,"  said  Marielle. 

"  Parker,"    said    Marielle   again,  after   a   mo 
ment's  pause,  "  what  makes  the  man  water  two 
of  his  horses  with  a  pail,  and  not  let  them  drink 
themselves  ? " 

"  The  pole-horses  can't  get  up  to  the  trough 
while  the  leaders  are  on,"  replied  Parker.  "  He 
might  take  off  his  leaders,  but  it  is  easier  to  carry 
the  water  to  the  other  horses  in  a  pail." 

By  this  time,  the  boy  had  brought  a  pail  of  wa- 
ter, and  Parker  held  it  up  to  the  mouths  of  his 
horses,  first  to  one,  and  then  to  the  other.  He 
gave  half  a  pailful  to  each.  Lucy  and  Marielle 
watched  the  operation,  and  they  observed  that, 
when  he  took  the  pail  away,  the  horses  were  re- 
luctant to  let  it  go.  They  kept  their  heads  in 
the  pail  as  long  as  they  could. 

"  They  want  some  more,  Parker,"  said  Ma- 
rielle. 

"  True,  Miss  Marielle,"  said  Parker :  "  but  it  is 
not  best  to  give  horses  all  the  water  they  want, 
while  they  are  travelling." 

So  saying,  Parker  gave  the  boy  back  his  pail, 
4* 


42  LUCY    ON    THE    SEA-SHOKE. 

and  handed  him  a  small  piece  of  silver  money ; 
and  then  he  mounted  upon  the  box  again,  and 
drove  on.  As  they  were  turning  out  into  the 
main  road,  the  great  wagon  set  off  too,  and  went 
in  the  contrary  direction ;  the  wheels  rolling  over 
the  road,  with  a  heavy,  lumbering  sound. 

"  How  much  farther  is  it,  Marielle  ? "  said  Lucy. 

"  Parker  said  just  now,"  replied  Marielle, 
"  that  it  was  about  eight  miles." 

"  No,  but  I  mean  to  the  sea-shore,"  said  Lucy. 
"  Parker  said  it  was  eight  miles  to  town." 

"  Well,"  replied  Marielle,  "  we  are  not  going  to 
the  sea-shore  to-night.     We  are  going  to  town." 

"  O,"  said  Lucy,  with  an  expression  of  sur- 
prise, "  I  thought  we  were  going  directly  to  the 
sea-shore.  When  are  we  going  to  the  sea-shore  ? " 
she  asked. 

u  I  don't  know,"  said  Marielle  ;  "  when  are  we, 
mother?" 

"  It  is  uncertain,"  said  Lady  Jane  ;  "  perhaps 
day  after  to-morrow." 

Lucy  very  soon  saw  abundant  evidence  that 
they  were  not  to  go  to  the  sea-shore.  The  car- 
riages and  vehicles  of  all  sorts  were  constantly 
increasing  on  the  road.  The  villages,  too,  became 
more  frequent  and  larger.  The  road  grew  broad, 
and  a   little   dusty.     They  met  a  great  many 


A    LONG    RIDE.  43 

loaded  teams,  piled  up  high,  like  the  one  they 
had  seen  in  the  yard  of  the  hotel,  with  boxes  and 
barrels.  At  last,  Lucy  saw  a  body  of  water  be- 
fore them,  and  a  long  bridge ;  and,  in  a  few  minutes 
afterwards,  the  carriage  came  upon  the  bridge, 
which  made  a  great  change  in  the  sound  pro- 
duced by  the  wheels  and  the  hoofs  of  the  horses. 
Parker  drew  up  his  horses  at  a  small  building 
pretty  near  the  beginning  of  the  bridge. 

"  What  is  he  stopping  for  ? "  said  Lucy. 

"■  This  is  a  toll-house,"  replied  Marielle.  "  He 
is  going  to  pay  the  toll." 

"  What  is  that  for  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

"  Why,  you  see,"  said  Marielle,  "  that  the 
people  that  built  this  monstrous,  long  bridge, 
want  some  money  to  pay  them  for  building  it ; 
and  they  make  every  body  that  goes  by  pay  a 
little,  and  so,  after  a  while,  they  get  a  good  deal." 

"  Do  they  get  enough  to  pay  them  for  building 
the  bridge  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

"  Yes,  I  suppose  so,"  said  Marielle. 

"  Then,  after  that,  I  expect  they  won't  make 
the  people  pay  any  more,"  said  Lucy. 

"  I  don't  know,"  said  Marielle,  "  about  that, 
exactly." 

The  children  were  both  silent  after  this,  while 
they  were  riding  over  the  bridge.     They  were 


44  LUCY    ON    THE    SEA-SHORE. 

looking  out,  each  on  her  own  side,  at  the  boats 
and  vessels  on  the  water,  and  at  the.  carriages  and 
persons  passing  them  on  the  bridge.  At  last, 
Lucy  caught  a  glimpse  of  another  toll-house, 
which  she  knew  by  its  having  a  sign  over  it,  with 
a  great  deal  of  reading  on  it,  just  like  the  other. 

"  O,  stop,  stop,"  said  Lucy ;  "  here's  another 
toll-house  ;  and  Parker  is  driving  right  by  it  with- 
out paying." 

Marieile  looked  out,  but  they  had  gone  by. 

"  I  didn't  know  there  were  two  toll-houses  on 
the  bridge,"  said  she. 

Just  then  there  was  another  great  change  in 
the  sound  of  the  wheels,  occasioned  by  their 
leaving  the  bridge,  and  coming  at  once  upon  the 
pavement.  The  pavement  was  made  of  rounded 
stones,  and  the  wheels  of  a  carriage  made  a  great 
noise  in  going  over  them,  so  that  Marieile  and 
Lucy  could  hardly  hear  each  other  speak.  Lucy 
looked  out,  however,  and  saw  that  they  had  sud- 
denly entered  a  great  maze  of  streets,  with  rows 
of  high  buildings  on  the  sides  of  them,  as  far  as 
she  could  see.  They  met  a  great  many  carnages 
and  carts  of  all  descriptions,  and  twice  the  road 
became  so  filled  up  with  them  that  Parker  had 
to  stop  and  wait  until  the  road  was  cleared  a 
little,  before  he  could  get  along.     There  was  a 


A   LONG    RIDE. 


45 


sidewalk,  too,  on  each  side  of  every  street,  paved 
with  bricks,  and  covered  with  people,  on  foot, 
going  and  coming.  Parker  turned  a  great  many 
comers,  and  Lucy  thought  that  he  would  certainly 
get  lost ;  but  he  drove  on  rapidly,  as  if  he  knew 
very  well  where  he  was  going.  At  length,  he 
stopped  before  the  door  of  a  house  with  a  marble 
portico,  in  a  street  lined  on  each  side  with  houses 
larger  than  any  that  Lucy  had  seen. 


46 

CHAPTER    IV. 
AUNT   MARY'S. 

When  the  carriage  stopped,  Lucy  looked  out 
at  the  house,  and  said,  — 

"  What  place  is  this,  Marielle  ?  " 

"  This  is  my  aunt  Mary's,"  replied  Marielle. 

"  Are  we  going  to  get  out  here  ? "  asked 
Lucy. 

It  became  unnecessary  for  Marielle  to  answer 
this  question,  for,  as  soon  as  it  was  asked,  Parker 
opened  the  door  of  the  carriage,  and  let  them  all 
get  out.  Marielle  got  out  first,  and  Parker  helped 
her  a  little  with  one  hand,  while  he  held  the  reins 
with  the  other.  It  was  not  really  necessary  for 
Parker  to  keep  the  reins,  for  the  horses  were  stj 
well  trained  that  they  would  stand  perfectly  well 
without  being  held.  But,  then,  Parker  knew  that 
Lady  Jane  would  feel  safer,  if  she  saw  that  he 
kept  command  of  the  reins,  and  that  this  feeling 
of  safety  was  far  more  important  to  her  comfort 
than  any  additional  assistance  which  he  might 
render  her  with  both  hands  free. 


aunt  mary's.  47 

Lucy  descended  the  steps  of  the  carnage,  and 
came  down  upon  a  broad  sidewalk  made  of  bricks, 
like  a  hearth,  with  an  edging  of  stone  between 
the  sidewalk  and  the  road.  At  a  little  distance 
from  where  she  stood,  and  near  the  outer  edge  of 
the  sidewalk,  there  was  a  tall,  slender,  black  post, 
of  a  handsome  form.  On  the  top  of  the  post  was 
a  square  lantern,  with  a  cross  bar.  The  post  was 
made  of  iron,  and  it  was  nearly  twice  as  high  as  a 
man's  head.  Lucy  looked,  and  saw  a  row  of  such 
posts  extending  along  the  street.  There  were  a 
horse  and  chaise  standing  near  the  sidewalk,  with 
a  long  rein  extending  from  the  horse's  bit  to  a 
weight,  which  was  lying  upon  the  sidewalk. 
Lucy  thought  that  the  row  of  houses  in  this  street 
was  very  magnificent,  with  their  long  ranges  of 
windows,  their  porticos  of  marble  before  the  doors, 
and  balconies  to  the  windows  in  the  second 
story. 

She  had  just  taken  a  glimpse  at  these  things, 
when  Lady  Jane  asked  Marielle  if  she  would  go 
and  ring  the  bell.  So  Marielle  tripped  up  the 
steps,  and  Lucy  followed  her.  There  was  a 
name  in  golden  letters  on  a  plate,  like  a  little 
looking-glass,  on  the  door,  with  a  black  border 
around  it.  By  the  side  of  the  door  was  a  black 
knob,   very  smooth    and    bright.     Marielle    took 


48  LUCY    ON    THE    SEA-SHORE. 

hold  of  this  knob,  and  pulled  it.     Lucy  could  hear 
a  bell  ring,  away  in  the  house. 

"  Is  that  the  way  you  ring  the  bell  ? "  said 
Lucy. 

"  Yes,"  said  Manelle ; "  they'll  come  presently." 

In  the  mean  time,  Lady  Jane  had  got  out  of 
the  carriage,  and  came  up  the  steps.  Just  then 
the  door  opened,  and  a  handsome-looking  black 
man  appeared.  He  was  very  black  indeed. 
Lucy  was  afraid  of  him  ;  but  Marielle  smiled  and 
said, — 

"  How  do  you  do,  Washington  ?  " 

"  Very  well,  Miss  Marielle.  I  am  very  glad 
to  see  you." 

'  Washington  opened  the  door  for  them  all  to 
come  in.  They  were  ushered  into  a  spacious 
entry,  with  a  large  staircase  ascending  from  the 
back  part  of  it. 

The  stairs  and  the  entry  floor  were  carpeted 
with  a  very  thick  and  soft  carpet ;  and  the  walls 
were  hung  with  beautiful  pictures,  in  large  gilt 
frames.  Washington  conducted  them  through 
the  entry,  and  ushered  them  into  a  parlor,  in  the 
rear  of  the  house.  It  was  a  large  parlor,  with  a 
fireplace  in  one  end.  The  fireplace  had  pillars 
on  each  side,  of  white  marble,  and  a  mantel-piece, 
of  the  same.     There  were  several  sofas  and  rock- 


aunt  mary's.  49 

ing-chairs  in  the  room  ;  and  all  the  other  chairs 
had  cushioned  seats.  There  was  one  round  table 
in  the  middle  of  the  room,  with  a  tall  lamp  upon 
It.  There  were  several  other  tables  around  the 
room,  between  the  windows,  with  tops  of  varie 
gated  marble,  and  mirrors  under  them,  against 
the  wall.  There  was  also  one  very  large  mirror 
between  the  windows  at  the  back  side  of  the 
room.  It  was  very  wide  and  high,  and  it 
reached  almost  down  to  the  floor.  Lucy  walked 
towards  it,  and  could  see  her  whole  person  in 
it,  and  Lady  Jane  and  Marielle  beside.  She 
said  she  never  saw  such  a  large  looking-glass 
before.  The  curtains  to  the  windows  hung  in 
very  full  folds,  and  were  of  a  splendid  color. 
There  was  a  thin  curtain  under  them,  which 
Lucy  thought  was  made  of  muslin.  The  window 
at  the  farther  end  of  the  room,  on  each  side  of 
the  great  mirror,  looked  out  to  a  little  green  yard, 
lined  with  trees  and  grape-vines. 

Lucy  was  very  much  pleased  to  see  such  a 
beautiful  parlor  ;  but  she  only  had  time  to  take 
one  general  survey  of  it,  before  Lady  Jane  re- 
quested Marielle  to  go  to  the  door  and  ask  Parker 
to  send  in  her  work-bag.  Lucy  thought  that  she 
would  go  with  her. 

They  went  to  the  door,  and  found  Parker  just 
5 


50  LUCY    ON    THE    SEA-SHORE. 

taking  the  last  of  the  parcels  from  the  carriage. 
While  Marielle  was  waiting  for  him  to  bring  the 
work-bag,  Lucy  was  looking  at  the  prospect 
which  was  in  view  from  the  door.  There  were 
no  houses  on  the  other  side  of  the  street,  but,  in- 
stead, there  was  a  very  high  iron  fence,  painted 
black,  with  a  picketed  top.  Beyond  the  fence 
was  a  smooth,  green  field,  with  rows  of  magnifi- 
cent trees.  They  were  elms,  and  nearly  all 
were  as  larrre  and  handsome  as  the  great  elm  that 
overhung  the  general's  house,  which  Lucy  had 
admired  so  much  when  she  was  among  the 
mountains.  Under  the  trees  were  broad  gravel 
walks.  While  Lucy  was  admiring  the  walks, 
and  the  trees,  and  the  great  iron  fence,  a  carriage 
drove  by,  drawn  by  a  pair  of  handsome  black 
horses,  with  two  ladies  inside,  and  a  coachman 
mounted  on  a  high  seat,  which  was  covered  with 
a  cloth,  that  hung  down  all  around,  bordered  by 
a  fringe.  She  heard  a  heavy,  rumbling  noise, 
round  a  corner  pretty  near  the  house,  as  if  some- 
thing was  coming.  She  looked  to  see  what  it 
was.  First,  a  large  and  powerful  horse  appeared, 
pulling  as  if  there  was  something  very  heavy 
behind.  He  had  a  very  strong  harness  on,  with 
a  cape  of  bear-skin  over  his  shoulders.  He  was 
followed  by  another  horse,  and  then  by  another; 


aunt  mary's.  51 

and  finally  the  cart  which  the  horses  were  draw 
ing  appeared.  It  was  square,  and  black,  ana 
was  full  of  what  looked  to  Lucy  like  black  stones 
There  was  a  cartman  walking  along  by  the  cart 
cracking  his  whip,  and  ordering  his  horses,  in  a 
loud  voice,  which  way  to  go. 

The  horses  wheeled  round  the  corner,  and  the 
cart  stopped  immediately  at  the  house  next  to 
the  one  where  Lucy  was.  The  cartman  brought 
them  up  near  to  the  sidewalk,  and  then  took  out 
a  board  behind,  which  let  some  of  the  black  stones 
fall  into  the  street.  Then  he  went  to  the  front 
of  the  cart.  He  unfastened  a  chain,  and  lifted 
the  front  of  the  cart  up,  and  immediately  the 
whole  load  came  pouring  down  upon  the  pave- 
ment with  a  great,  rattling  noise.  Just  then, 
Washington  came  up  the  steps  with  his  arms  full 
of  packages,  and  Marielle  took  her  mother's 
work-bag,  and  went  in  with  it.  Lucy  had  just 
time  to  see  Parker  mount  his  seat,  and  wheel  his 
horses  round,  and  drive  away  ;  and  then  she  fol- 
lowed Marielle  back  into  the  parlor  again. 

As  they  returned  through  the  entry,  they  saw 
a  lady  coming  down  stairs.  Marielle  exclaimed, 
"  How  do  you  do,  aunt  ? " 

"  Ah,  Marielle,"  said  her  aunt,  "  I'm  very  glad 
to  see  you.     And  who  is  this  little  girl  ? " 


52  LUCY    ON    THE    SEA-SHORE. 

"  This  is  Lucy,"  said  Marielle.  "  She  is  going 
to  the  sea-shore  with  us." 

"  The  sea-shore  !  "  said  her  aunt.  "  Are  you 
going  to  the  sea-shore?"  And  so  saying,  the 
lady  took  Lucy  by  one  hand,  and  Marielle  by  the 
other,  and  walked  along  the  entry  towards  the 
parlor  where  they  had  left  Lady  Jane.  The 
lady  seemed  very  kind  to  both  the  children  ;  but 
Lucy  thought  that  she  looked  very  sad  and  sor- 
rowful. She  was  pale,  and  there  was  an  expres- 
sion of  great  anxiety  upon  her  countenance. 

When  she  went  into  the  parlor,  she  greeted  her 
sister,  Lady  Jane,  with  great  cordiality,  and  said 
that  she  was  very  glad  that  she  had  come,  for 
little  Willie  was  very  sick. 

"  Why,  aunt !  "  said  Marielle,  with  a  look  of 
great  concern.  "  Is  he  sick  ?  I  am  very  sorry. 
How  long  has  he  been  sick  ? " 

"  O,  for  some  time,  Marielle,"  replied  her  aunt. 
"  You  and  Lucy  can't  play  with  him  at  all. 
And  you'll  be  very  still,  won't  you  ?  You'll  have 
to  amuse  yourselves,  because  I  must  take  care  of 
Willie.  The  doctor  is  here  now.  You  can  go 
into  the  library,  you  know,  and  show  Lucy  some 
pictures.     Lucy,  do  you  like  to  look  at  pictures  ? " 

Lucy  said  she  liked  pictures  very  much.  Lady 
Jane  asked  some  more  questions  about  little  Wil- 


AUNT    MARY'S.  53 

lie,  and  then  the  two  ladies  went  up  stairs  togeth- 
er, while  Marielle  and  Lucy  went  to  the  back 
window  to  look  at  the  little  yard  and  the  grape- 
vines in  it.  As  her  aunt  was  going  out  of  the 
door  with  her  mother,  she  turned  round  to  say,  — 

"  Marielle,  you  know  where  your  room  is,  and 
you  can  show  Lucy." 

"  Yes,  aunt,"  said  JVlarielle. 

So  her  aunt  and  her  mother  went  up  stairs,  and 
left  Lucy  and  Marielle  in  the  parlor.  Lucy 
looked  out  at  all  the  windows,  and  then  she 
began  to  look  at  the  pictures  hanging  up  against 
the  walls. 

"  Come,  Lucy,"  said  Marielle. 

"  Yes,"  said  Lucy,  "  in  a  minute.  O,  what  a 
beautiful  great  doa: !  I  never  saw  such  a  lanje 
picture  of  a  dog." 

"  Yes,"  said  Marielle ;  "  but  come,  let's  go 
to  our  room,  and  we'll  look  at  the  pictures  by 
and  by." 

"  Yes,"  said  Lucy,  "  I'll  come." 

So  she  began  to  move  along  towards  Marielle, 
looking,  however,  at  the  pictures,  as  she  passed 
them. 

"  O,  here  is  a  pond  among  the  mountains! 
That's  something  like  Emery's  Pond,"  said  Lucy. 

"  Emery's  Pond  ?  "  repeated  Marielle. 
5* 


54  LUCY    ON   THE    SEA-SHORE. 

"  Yes,"  said  Lucy,  "  only  the  house  don't  look 
like  Mr.  Emery's.  How  bi°"h  the  mountains  are! 
We  rode  around  among  such  mountains." 

"  When  ?  "  said  Marielle. 

"  O,  when  I  went  to  the  Gap." 

"  Well,  come,"  said  Marielle. 

"  Yes,"  said  Lucy,  "  only  just  let  me  see  what 
all  these  people  are  doing  in,  this  picture." 

"  No,"  said  Marielle ;  "  I  shall  go  away,  and 
then  you  can't  find  your  way  to  our  room." 

So  Marielle  walked  away,  and  began  to  ascend 
the  stairs  ;  and  Lucy,  finding  that  she  was  likely 
to  be  left,  gave  up  the  pictures,  and  followed. 
Lucy  was  very  glad  that  she  had  not  been  left 
behind,  when  she  found  how  intricate  the  passage 
was  to  her  room.  They  went  up  a  flight  of 
stairs,  and  then  along  a  passage-way  which  con- 
ducted them  by  a  number  of  doors,  until  they 
came  to  one  which  Marielle  said  led  to  her  room. 
Here  they  went  in  ;  and  they  did  not  come  down 
arjain  for  half  an  hour. 


55 


CHAPTER    V. 
THE  LIBRARY. 

When  Marielle  and  Lucy  came  down  stairs, 
they  returned  into  the  parlor  again.  Lucy  looked 
at  the  pictures  a  short  time,  and  then  Marielle 
proposed  that  they  should  go  into  the  library. 
She  accordingly  led  the  way  through  a  door,  near 
the  farther  end  of  the  parlor,  into  a  passage-way, 
which  conducted  them  to  a  smaller  room  beyond, 
which  Lucy  at  once  thought  looked  even  more 
pleasant  than  the  parlor  itself.  The  walls  were 
almost  entirely  filled  with  books,  from  the  ceiling 
down  as  low  as  the  top  of  a  table.  The  space 
below  that  was  finished  with  drawers  and  little 
doors  made  of  mahogany,  and  very  highly  pol- 
ished. There  was  a  square  table  in  the  middle 
of  the  room,  with  two  large  portable  desks  upon 
it.  The  desks  were  made  of  rose.-wood,  brass 
bound,  and  inlaid  in  a  curious  manner.  The 
table  was  made  of  rose-wood  too,  having  a  flat 
border  of  rose-wood  all  around  the  edge  upon  the 
top,  and  the  rest  of  the  upper  surface  covered 


56  LUCY    ON    THE     SEA-SHORE. 

with  dark-blue  broadcloth.  There  were  several 
large  books  of  maps  and  plates  upon  the  middle 
of  the  table.  There  were  a  few  small  pictures 
hanging  about  the  room,  wherever  there  was 
space  for  them  ;  and  between  the  windows  was  a 
case  of  shelves,  with  glass  doors,  containing  some 
very  splendid  apparatus,  which  Lucy  could  see 
through  the  glass.  There  were  several  very 
comfortable-looking  arm-chairs  about  the  room, 
with  spring  seats,  and  stuffed  arms  and  backs,  — 
all  covered  with  morocco  of  a  purple  color. 
Lucy  took  her  seat  in  one  of  them,  saying,  — 

"  Oj  what  a  beautiful  chair !  " 

As  she  sat  in  the  chair,  she  turned  her  eyes 
towards  a  little  fireplace  which  was  before  her. 
It  was  a  small  grate,  covered  with  what  Lucy 
called  a  fireboard  ;  but  Marielle  said  that  it  was  a 
blower.  Over  the  grate  was  a  mantel-piece,  of 
marble,  supported  by  two  pillars,  one  on  each 
side  of  the  grate.  There  was  a  small  clock  upon 
the  mantel-piece,  with  the  little  pendulum  swing- 
ing regularly  to  and  fro.  The  pendulum  was 
suspended  by  a  curious  system  of  bright  little 
bars,  alternately  of  brass  and  steel.  On  one  side 
of  the  clock  was  a  thermometer,  on  an  ivory  stand, 
with  a  dial  upon  the  top.  On  the  other  side 
was  what  Lucy  called  a  round  looking-glass.     It 


THE    LIBRARY.  57 

was   small,  and  mounted  on  a  little  ivory   sup 
port ;    and   it   had   an   ivory   frame    around    it. 
Lucy  jumped  up,  and  looked  into  it ;  and  she  said 
it  made  her  look  very  small,  and  very  beautiful, 
too. 

"  I  didn't  know  that  a  little  glass  would  make 
me  look  so  little,"  said  Lucy. 

"  O,  it  is  not  because  it  is  a  little  glass,"  said 
Marielle. 

"  I  don't  see  any  other  reason,"  said  Lucy. 
"  It  makes  me  look  very  little  indeed." 

"  But  it  can't  be  because  it  is  a  little  glass,"  said 
Marielle ;  "  for  then  a  big  glass  would  make  you 
look  very  big.  And  don't  you  know  that  you 
don't  look  any  bigger  than  you  are  in  the  great 
glass  out  in  the  parlor  ?  " 

Lucy  was  just  going  out  to  look  at  herself 
again  in  the  great  glass  in  the  parlor,  when  a  door 
opened,  and  Lady  Jane  came  in.  It  was  not  the 
same  door  that  they  had  come  in  at,  —  that  is,  the 
one  leading  from  the  parlor,  —  but  another,  not  far 
from  the  fireplace.  Lady  Jane  opened  the  door 
softly,  and  shut  it  again  softly. 

"  O  mother,"  said  Marielle,  "  have  you  been 
up  to  see  Willie  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Lady  Jane. 

"  And  how  does  he  do  ?  "  asked  Marielle. 


58  LUCY    ON    THE    SEA-SHORE. 

"  He's  better,"  said  her  mother.  "  The  doctor 
has  been  here,  and  he  says  he's  better." 

"  We  want  to  go  up  and  see  him,"  said 
Marielle. 

"  No,"  said  her  mother,  "  you  must  not  go  and 
see  him.  We  want  to  keep  him  perfectly  quiet 
and  still.  We're  going  to  have  your  tea  sent  in 
here,  and  you  must  stay  here,  and  amuse  your- 
selves as  well  as  you  can.  I'm  going  to  be  up 
stairs  with  sister  Mary." 

"  But,  mother,"  said  Marielle,  "  I  want  to  carry 
Willie  his  apple." 

Marielle  had  brought  a  large,  rosy  apple  as  a 
present  for  Willie.  It  had  grown  in  her  garden, 
and  was  of  a  very  early  kind,  that  ripened  before 
any  of  the  other  apples  in  the  garden. 

But  her  mother  told  her  that  Willie  was  not 
well  enough  to  eat  an  apple.  She  said,  however, 
that  perhaps  he  would  be  well  enough,  the  next 
day,  to  have  it  to  play  with,  but  that  Marielle 
could  not  give  it  to  him  that  evening.  So,  char- 
ging Marielle  and  Lucy  not  to  make  any  noise,  or 
to  do  any  mischief,  she  left  them,  and  went  up 
stairs  again. 

As  soon   as   her    mother   was  gone,  Marielle 
said,  — 
was  \Now,  Lucy,  we're  going  to  have  the  library 


THE    LIBRARY.  59 

all  to  ourselves,  and  we  will  have  a  good  time,  I 
can  assure  you.  Washington  will  bring  us  up 
some  tea  by  and  by.  Then  I  will  be  the  lady  of 
tne  house,  and  we  will  play  that  you  are  my 
company.  And  now  what  shall  we  do  before  tea- 
time  comes  ?  I  can  show  you  some  pictures,  or 
some  curiosities." 

"  Curiosities  ? "  repeated  Lucy ;  "  what  kind  of 
curiosities  ?  " 

"  O,  various  kinds,"  said  Marielle  ;  "  they  are 
in  these  drawers." 

So  saying,  Marielle  went  to  the  side  of  the 
room,  to  a  place  where  there  were  drawers  under 
the  books,  and  began  to  open  them.  They  were 
full  of  shells  and  curiosities  of  various  kinds. 
The  drawers  were  divided  inside  by  small  parti- 
tions. Some  of  them  were  square,  and  filled 
with  little  shells.  In  the  other  drawers,  the  parti- 
tions were  larger,  and  the  shells  large,  and  beau- 
fully  mottled,  and  polished  like  glass.  Marielle 
took  some  of  them  up,  one  by  one,  and  showed 
them  to  Lucy.  There  was  one  in  a  front  corner 
of  one  of  the  drawers,  which  Marielle  said  they 
must  not  take  up,  for  it  was  very  delicate,  and  it 
would  break  it  to  handle  it.  Lucy  looked  at  it, 
however,  very  attentively.     It   was    white,   and 


60  LUCY    ON    THE    SEA-SHORE. 

thin,  and  of  a  beautiful  form ;  and  the  partition 
which  it  was  lying  in  was  lined  with  cotton,  so  as 
to  give  it  a  soft  bed. 

Presently  Marielle  opened  another  drawer,  and 
showed  Lucy  some  minerals.  Some  were  beauti- 
ful crystals,  single  and  in  groups,  just  as  they  were 
formed,  with  their  natural  surface  smooth  and 
brilliant  like  cut  glass.  There  were  also  speci- 
mens of  marbles,  and  spars,  and  agates,  with  one 
side  rough  and  worn,  and  the  other  polished,  so 
as  to  show  all  the  beautiful  colors,  and  reflect  the 
light,  like  a  mirror.  Lucy  admired  them  very 
much  ;  and,  while  she  was  looking  at  one  which 
had  waving  lines  in  it,  which  Lucy  said  looked 
almost  like  a  picture,  Marielle  suddenly  said,  — 

"  O,  that  makes  me  think  of  the  mosaic.  I 
must  show  you  the  mosaic." 

So  saying,  Marielle  shut  the  drawer  which 
they  had  been  looking  at,  and  went  across  the 
room  to  the  glass  case  where  the  apparatus  was 
kept.  Underneath  this  case  there  were  several 
small  drawers.  Matielle  opened  one,  and  took  out 
a  picture.  It  was  a  picture  of  a  burning  mountain. 
There  were  some  rocks  and  lighthouses  in  the 
foreground,  that  is,  in  the  front  part  of  the  pic 
ture.     Beyond  the  rocks  was  a  sea,  and  beyond 


THE    LIBRARY.  Gl 

the  sea  some  land,  with  a  great  mountain  rising 
from  it.  The  mountain  was  a  volcano,  throwing 
up  stones  and  fire. 

c:  Let  me  take  it,"  said  Lucy. 

Marielle  gave  the  picture  to  Lucy,  telling  her  to 
hold  it  very  carefully,  for  she  said  it  was  very 
neavv 

Lucy  took  it  into  her  hand,  and  immediately 
exclaimed,  — 

"  O,  what  a  heavy  picture !  What  makes  it  so 
heavy  ? " 

"  It  is  a  mosaic,"  said  Marielle. 

"  A  mosaic  ?  "  repeated  Lucy. 

"  Yes,"  replied  Marielle ;  "  it  is  made  of 
stones." 

"  I  never  saw  a  stone  picture  before,"  said 
Lucy.  "  I  did  not  know  that  they  could  paint 
pictures  on  stones." 

"  O,  it  isn't  painted  on  the  stone,"  said  Mari- 
elle. "  The  picture  is  made  of  different  colored 
stones,  let  in,  some  how  or  other.  There,  look  at 
that  ship  sailing  along.  The  sails  are  made  of 
white  stone,  cut  out  and  put  in  just  in  the  right 
place.  And  so  the  mountain  and  the  lighthouse 
are  made  of  different  colored  stones." 

Lucy  looked  at  the  mosaic  very  attentively; 
6 


62  LUCY    ON   THE    SEA-SHORE. 

but  she  could  hardly  believe  that  it  was  as  Mari- 
ellc  said. 

"  I  don't  see  how  they  can  make  it  so,"  said 
she. 

"  Nor  I,"  said  Marielle  ;  "  but  they  do,  I  know. 
They  made  it  in  Italy.  My  uncle  got  it  there. 
He  says  he  has  seen  that  very  mountain." 

The  children  presently  put  the  mosaic  away, 
and,  after  looking  at  the  curiosities  in  the  drawers 
a  short  time  longer,  they  concluded  to  sit  up  to  the 
table,  and  look  at  some  pictures.  Marielle  said 
she  knew  where  there  was  a  book  with  some 
beautiful  pictures  in  it.  So  she  and  Lucy  took 
hold  of  a  very  large  arm-chair,  large  enough  to 
hold  them  both,  and  began  to  push  it  along  up  to 
the  table.  There  were  little  brass  wheels  at  the 
bottom  of  each  of  the  legs  of  the  chair,  so  that 
they  could  trundle  it  along  very  easily. 

They  got  down  the  book,  too,  and  began  to 
look  at  the  pictures ;  but  they  found  that  it  was 
growing  dark,  and  Marielle  said  that  she  had  a 
great  mind  to  ring  for  a  light.  But  Lucy  told 
her  that  she  had  better  not,  for  it  might  trouble 
Washington  to  have  to  come  on  purpose  to  bring 
them  a  light,  and  that,  pretty  soon,  she  thought 
that  he  would  come  with  their  tea.  And  Lucy, 
in  fact,  was  right.     Washington  came  in  a  few 


THE    LIBRARY.  63 

minutes,  bringing  in  a  large  lamp  with  two 
branches.  Each  branch  had  a  shade  of  ground 
glass  over  the  flame  of  the  lamp,  so  that  it  lighted 
the  table  and  the  room  very  pleasantly,  and  yet 
did  not  dazzle  their  eyes.  He  set  this  lamp  upon 
the  middle  of  the  table. 

"  Are  you  going  to  bring  us  our  tea  pretty  soon, 
Washington  ?  "  said  Marielle. 

"  Coming  right  up  with  it,  Miss  Marielle,"  said 
Washington.  # 

So  Washington  went  out  of  the  room,  and 
pretty  soon  returned  with  a  small  table  just 
large  enough  for  a  tea-table  for  Marielle  and 
Lucy.  He  set  this  in  a  place  where  there  was 
room  for  it,  between  the  great  study-table  and  the 
window.  It  was  so  near  the  great  table,  that  the 
lamp  shone  upon  it,  and  lighted  it. very  well.  He 
then  brought  a  small  table-cloth  and  put  over  it. 
Then  he  went  away  again. 

In  a  short  time,  he  returned  with  a  large  tray, 
containing  all  things  necessary  for  the  tea-table 
There  was  a  little  waiter  with  two  tea-pots  upon 
it,  and  also  a  creamer  and  a  sugar-bowl.  These 
were  all  of  silver.  There  were  also  two  cups 
and  saucers  ;  and  two  plates,  with  a  knife  and  fork 
for  each ;  and  a  dish  with  a  cover  upon  it,  so  that 
Lucy  could  not  see  what  was  in  it.     Washington 


64  LUCY    ON    THE    SEA-SHORE. 

arranged  all  these  things  in  order  upon  the  table, 
and  then  went  out,  saying  that  he  was  going  to 
get  some  chairs.  In  a  moment  he  returned,  bring- 
ing in  some  chairs,  which  were  lighter  and  more 
suitable  for  a  tea-table  than  the  great  elbow-chairs 
which  belonged  in  the  library.  He  placed  one  at 
each  end  of  the  table,  and  then  turned  to  Marielle, 
and  said, — 

"  Will  you  ring,  Miss  Marielle,  if  you  want 
any  thing?" 

"  Yes,"  said  Marielle,  «  we'll  ring." 

So  Washington  went  away. 

Marielle  and  Lucy  then  went  to  their  seats  at 
the  table.  Marielle  took  her  place  by  the  little 
waiter ;  for  she  told  Lucy  that  it  would  be  best 
for  her  to  pour  out  the  tea.  While  she  was  pour- 
ing it  out,  she  asked  Lucy  to  lift  off  that  cover, 
and  see  what  Washington  had  got  for  them  to  eat. 
Lucy  did  so,  and  found  that  it  was  a  plate  of  hot 
muffins.  Muffins  are  round  cakes,  very  tender 
and  good. 

"  I'm  glad  that  we  came  here,"  said  Lucy, 
"  instead  of  going  directly  to  the  sea-shore.  I 
think  this  is  a  very  pleasant  place." 

"  Yes,"  said  Marielle  ;  "  I  like  to  come  to  my 
aunt's  very  much,  —  especially  when  my  uncle 
is  at  home." 


THE    LIBRARY.  65 

"  Isn't  he  at  home  now  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

"  No,"  said  Marielle ;  "  he  has  gone  away 
somewhere,  but  I  don't  know  where ;  he's  very 
often  away." 

"  When  are  we  £oin£.  to  the  sea-shore  ? "  said 
Lucy. 

"  I  don't  know,"  replied  Marielle.  "  We  were 
going  to  stay  here  one  day  for  Parker  to  go  and 
engage  us  a  place.  But,  now  little  Willie  is  sick, 
I  don't  know  but  that  we  shall  stay  here  longer. 
Aunt  won't  want  mother  to  go  away,  I  know, 
now  Willie  is  so  sick,  —  and  uncle  away  from 
home,  too." 

"  Well,"  said  Lucy,  "  I  should  like  to  stay  here 
to-morrow,  very  much,  and  longer  too." 

So  Marielle  and  Lucy  talked  and  ate  their 
supper  together  very  happily. 

After  they  had  finished  their  supper,  Marielle 
said  that  she  would  ring  the  bell  for  Washington 
to  come  ;  but  Lucy  said,  "  Let  me  ring'  it."  So 
Marielle  showed  her  where  a  green  cord  was 
hanging,  with  a  large  golden-looking  ring  at  the 
end  of  it ;  and  she  told  her  that,  if  she  pulled  that, 
it  would  ring  the  bell,  so  that  Washington  could 
hear.  Lucy,  therefore,  went  and  pulled  the  cord, 
but  she  did  not  hear  any  bell  ring. 
6* 


66  LUCY    ON    THE    SEA-SHORE. 

However,  in  a  few  minutes,  Washington  came 
in  with  his  great  tray  in  his  hand. 

"  Was  the  supper  agreeable,  Miss  Marielle  ? ' 
said  Washington,  very  respectfully,  to  Marielle ; 
for  Washington  was  always  very  polite. 

"Yes,"  said  Marielle,  "only  I  don't  think 
they  meant  to  have  us  hurt  ourselves  with  the 
tea." 

"  Why  not?  "  said  Washington. 

"  Why,  it  was  so  weak.  I  couldn't  tell,  at  first, 
which  was  the  water-pot." 

A  faint  semblance  of  a  smile  appeared  for  a 
moment  on  Washington's  countenance  as  he  re- 
plied,— 

"  Yes,  —  Lady  Jane  directed  about  the  tea, 
Miss  Marielle." 

So  saying,  Washington  carried  the  tea  things, 
and  the  table,  and  the  chairs,  all  away. 


67 


CHAPTER    VI. 

THE    SEA-SHORE. 

The  next  morning,  Marielle  and  Lucy  went 
out  to  take  a  walk  about  the  city.  They  had  a 
very  pleasant  walk  indeed.  Marielle  showed 
Lucy  a  great  many  very  curious  things  in  the  shop 
windows.  They  came  home  about  eleven  o'clock. 
They  found  that  Willie  was  getting  better,  and 
Marielle  told  Lucy  that  Parker  had  gone  to  make 
arrangements  for  them  at  some  place  on  the  sea- 
shore, and  that,  if  he  came  back  in  season,  and 
if  her  uncle  got  home  that  afternoon,  as  he  was 
expected,  and  if  Willie  continued  to  be  better, 
they  were  going  to  the  sea-shore  towards  evening 
of  that  day.  Marielle  said  all  this  when  she  came 
down  from  her  mother's  room  up  stairs,  into  the 
library,  where  she  had  left  Lucy. 

"  And  mother  says,"  she  continued,  "  that  she 
thinks  it  would  be  a  good  plan  for  you  to  write 
a  letter  home  to  somebody  there,  and  tell  them 
something  about  your  journey." 


68  LUCY    ON    THE    SEA-SHORE. 

"  O,  but  I  don't  know  how  to  write,"  said 
Lucy.  "  I  can  print  a  little.  I  can  make  an  O  ; 
but  I  can't  write  well  enough  to  write  a  letter." 

"  But  she  does  not  mean  for  you  to  write  it 
yourself,"  said  Marielle.  "  She  means  for  me  to 
write  for  you,  while  you  tell  me  what  to  say." 

"  Well,"  said  Lucy, "  I  will.  I'll  write  a  letter 
to  Royal." 

So  Marielle  opened  a  drawer,  where  she  knew 
that  paper  and  pens  were  always  kept,  and  she 
took  out  a  sheet  of  paper  and  a  pen,  and  car- 
ried them  to  one  of  the  desks  upon  the  table. 
Then  she  drew  up  one  of  the  great  chairs,  and 
sat  in  it. 

The  chair  was  not  high  enough.  She,  how- 
ever, soon  remedied  the  difficulty  by  going  into  the 
parlor,  and  bringing  a  large  cushion,  pretty  thick, 
which  she  put  into  the  great  chair,  and  that  raised 
the  seat  so  that  it  answered  very  well.  Lucy  sat 
in  another  great  chair,  and  began  to  dictate  to  her 
amanuensis  as  follows  :  — 

"  First,  you  must  write  '  Dear  Royal '  upon  the 
top,"  said  Lucy. 

Marielle  began  to  wnte ;  and  presently  she  said 
that  she  had  done  it. 

"We  haven't  got  to  the  sea-shore  yet,"  said 
Lucy,  dictating. 


THE    SEA-SHORE.  09 

Marielle  wrote  it,  and  then  said,  "  Well,  what 
next?" 

"  But  it  is  very  pleasant  in  this  library,"  said 
Lucy.  "  Would  you  tell  him  about  our  taking 
tea  all  by  ourselves,  Marielle  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Marielle,  "  if  you  think  he  would 
like  to  hear  about  it." 

"  O,  the  mosaic  !  "  said  Lucy.  "  I'll  tell  him 
about  the  mosaic.  But  he  won't  know  what  a 
mosaic  is,"  she  added. 

"  But  you  must  explain  it  to  him,"  said  Ma- 
rielle.    "  I  will  write  whatever  you  say." 

So  Lucy,  after  a  moment's  thought,  gave  Ma- 
rielle. something  more  to  say ;  and  thus  they  went 
on  for  about  half  an  hour.  At  the  end  of  that 
time,  Lucy  said  she  was  tired,  and  that  she 
wanted  Marielle  to  read  the  letter  to  her.  So 
Marielle  read  as  follows  :  — 

"  Dear  Royal  : 

"  We  haven't  got  to  the  sea-shore  yet.  But 
it  is  very  pleasant  in  this  library.  There  is  a 
burning  mountain  here,  made  of  stone.  They 
keep  it  in  a  drawer.  There  is  a  ship,  and  the 
sails  are  made  of  stone.  It  is  sailing  along  in  the 
water.  The  shells  are  very  pretty,  too.  I'm 
going  to  get  some  just  like  them  for  you,  if  I  can 


70  LUCY    ON    THE    SEA-SHORE. 

find  any  on  the  beach.  Willie  is  sick,  so  that  he 
can't  have  his  apple.  Marielle  brought  him  an 
apple.  Willie  is  better  now.  We  had  a  very 
good  ride,  only  Marielle  got  asleep ;  and  so  did 
I,  almost.  We  came  over  a  very  long  bridge. 
There  were  two  toll-houses.  One  was  to  pay 
for  one  end  of  the  bridge,  and  the  other  for  the 
other. 

"  Your  affectionate  sister, 

"  Lucy." 

Marielle.  said  that  she  thought  it  was  a  very 
good  letter  ;  and  she  said  that  she  would  go  and 
read  it  to  her  mother,  and  then  seal  it  up,  and 
get  Washington  to  carry  it  to  the  post-office. 

So  Marielle  went  up  stair?  to  find  her  mother 
Lady  Jane  said  that  it  was  a  very  good  letter ; 
but  she  did  not  give  it  back  to  Marielle  to  seal 
and  send,  as  she  had  proposed.  She  said  that 
she  wanted  to  add  a  line  to  Lucy's  mother  her- 
self, and  that  she  would  see  that  it  was  sealed 
and  forwarded. 

After  dinner,  Marielle's  aunt  appeared  much 
more  cheerful  and  happy  than  she  had  done  the 
day  before ;  for  Willie  was  much  better,  though 
he  was  still  very  feeble.  She  said  that  the  chil- 
dren might  go  up  and  see  him  a  few  minutes  after 


THE    SEA-SHORE.  71 

dinner.  Marielle  asked  if  she  might  carry  him 
up  his  apple ;  and  her  aunt  said  yes,  and  that  he 
should  have  it  roasted,  and  eat  it  afterwards. 
She  asked  the  doctor,  she  said,  and  he  told  her 
that  a  little  roasted  apple  would  do  him  good, 
So  she  was  very  glad  that  Marielle  had  brough? 
the  apple. 

About  half  an  hour  after  dinner,  a  little  girl, 
named  Sarah,  came  into  the  library  where  Marielle 
and  Lucy  were  sitting,  and  told  Marielle  that  her 
aunt  was  ready  to  have  her  go  up  and  see  Willie. 

"  Well,"  said  Marielle,  "  and  will  you  show  us 
the  way  ? " 

Sarah  said  that  she  would ;  and  so  Marielle 
and  Lucy  followed  her.  She  led  them  up  stairs, 
and  thence  along  a  passage-way  to  a  different 
part  of  the  house  from  that  where  their  chamber 
was ;  and  presently  she  stopped  at  a  door,  and 
tapped  gently.  In  a  moment,  the  door  opened : 
Lady  Jane  appeared  within,  and  asked  the  chil- 
dren to  walk  in.  Marielle  and  Lucy  walked  in 
on  tiptoe. 

There  was  a  bed  in  the  room,  with  curtains 
over  it.  Before  the  bed  was  a  crib,  not  quite  so 
high  as  the  bed,  and  it  had  rockers  upon  it,  so 
that  it  could  be  rocked  like  a  cradle.  Willie  was 
not  in  his  crib,  however.     He  was  sitting  in  his 


72  LUCY    ON    THE    SEA-SHORE. 

nurse's  lap,  with  his  head  leaning  against  her 
shoulder.  He  looked  very  pale  and  wasted ;  but 
his  eye  was  very  bright,  and  blue,  and  he  looked 
earnestly  at  Marielle  and  Lucy  as  they  came  in. 

He  was  just  old  enough  to  talk  a  little,  but  he 
did  not  say  any  thing. 

"  Willie,"  said  Marielle,  "  here's  an  apple  for 
you." 

Willie  looked  at  the  apple  languidly  a  moment, 
and  then  reached  out  his  little  hand  to  take  it. 
His  fingers  were  very  thin  and  slender.  He 
could  not  hold  the  apple  with  them  very  well. 

"  I'll  put  it  on  the  table  for  you,  Willie,"  said 
Marielle,  "  and  then  you  shall  have  it  roasted  by 
and  by." 

So  she  took  the  apple  again,  which  Willie  gave 
up  without  any  objection,  and  put  it  on  a  little 
table  which  was  near.  Willie  followed  it  with 
his  eyes  all  the  time.  Then  Marielle  came  back, 
and  said,  — 

"  Shouldn't  you  like  to  come  and  see  me  a 
little  while,  Willie  ?  I'll  hold  you  very  care- 
fully." 

"  No,"  said  Marielle's  aunt,  who  was  sitting 
upon  a  sofa,  between  the  windows.  "  I  think 
you  had  better  not  take  him,  Marielle ;  he's  too 
heavy  for  you." 


THE    SEA-SHORE.  75 

"  O,  do  let  me  take  him  a  minute,  aunt,  if  he 
will  come,"  said  Marielle. 

Willie  recollected  Marielle  very  well,  for  she 
had  often  been  at  the  house,  and  had  played  with 
him  a  great  deal.  So  he  held  out  his  little  hands 
to  her,  and,  as  his  mother  did  not  make  any  more 
oojection,  Marielle  took  him,  and  began  to  carry 
him  towards  the  sofa.  Willie  could  not  hold  up 
his  head.  His  little  neck  was  very  weak  and 
slender,  and  he  laid  his  head  down  on  Marielle's 
shoulder. 

"  I'll  take  a  walk  with  you,  Willie,"  said  Mari- 
elle. And  so,  instead  of  sitting  down  upon  the 
sofa,  as  she  had  intended,  she  began  to  walk 
slowly  back  and  forth  across  the  room  with  him. 
But  he  was  a  very  heavy  load  for  her,  for  Mari- 
elle was  not  very  strong.  At  last  her  aunt  said 
that  she  must  not  try  to  carry  him  any  longer, 
and  so  Marielle  turned  to  go  back  with  him  to  his 
nurse. 

"  Put  me  in  my  crib,"  said  Willie. 

Marielle  went  towards  his  crib,  but  she  was 
not  strong  enough  to  put  him  in.  The  nurse 
came  and  helped  her.  Together  they  lifted  him 
to  his  place,  and  he  laid  his  head  upon  his  pillow. 

"  Do  you  feel  any  better,  Willie  ? "  said  Lucy, 
in  a  very  gentle  tone. 


76  LUCY    ON    THE    SEA-SHORE. 

But  Willie  did  not  answer ;  he  turned  his  head 
away,  and  shut  his  eyes,  making  only  a  moaning 
sound,  which  indicated  that  he  did  not  wish  to  be 
disturbed. 

Lady  Jane  then  told  the  children  he  was  too 
feeble  to  see  company  any  longer ;  and  so  Mari- 
elle  and  Lucy  went  softly  out  of  the  room. 

"  Poor  little  Willie !  "  said  Marielle,  as  they 
were  going  down  stairs ;  "  he  looks  rather  sick." 

"  Yes,"  said  Lucy,  "  he  looks  very  sick. '  I 
think  he  is  very  sick  indeed." 

"  No,"  replied  Marielle,  "  he  is  not  very  sick 
indeed,  now.  The  doctor  told  aunt  Mary  to-day 
that  he  was  a  great  deal  better,  only  that  he  is 
weak  ;  and  so  I  think  my  mother  will  go  to  the 
sea-shore  this  afternoon,  if  Parker  comes  back, 
and  has  found  us  a  place." 

Parker  did  come  back ;  and  he  had  found  them 
a  place,  which,  he  said,  he  thought  would  an- 
swer very  well,  about  fifteen  miles  from  the  city. 
Marielle's  uncle  came  home,  too,  about  the  mid- 
dle of  the  afternoon.  When  he  found  that  Lady 
Jane  was  going  to  the  sea-shore,  he  insisted  upon 
going  with  her,  to  see  her  comfortably  established. 
But  Lady  Jane  would  not  allow  it. 

"  We  shall  do  very  well,"  said  she.  "  Parker 
always  takes  excellent  care  of  us.     When  Willie 


THE    SEA-SHORE.  77 

gets  a  little  better,  you  may  come  down,  and 
bring  him  and  sister,  and  leave  them  there  with 
us  a  few  days,  if  you  please,  and  then  I  will 
bring  them  home." 

They  all  thought  that  this  would  be  an  excel- 
lent plan  ;  and  it  was  agreed,  if  Willie  con- 
tinued to  improve,  that  in  the  course  of  a  week, 
perhaps,  they  would  come.  So  they  concluded 
to  take  an  early  tea,  and  Lady  Jane  directed 
Parker  to  have  the  carriage  and  horses  at  the 
door  at  six  o'clock.  By  this  plan  they  thought 
that  they  could  get  to  the  place  where  they  were 
going,  before  sunset. 

It  was  very  pleasant  riding  at  six  o'clock,  for 
the  day  had  been  quite  warm,  but  now  it  began 
to  be  cool.  Parker  drove  through  a  great  many 
streets,  turning  corner  after  corner,  until  Lucy 
wondered  how  he  could  find  his  way.  At  length, 
however,  they  began  gradually  to  emerge  from 
the  city.  Soon  afterwards,  as  they  were  ascend- 
ing a  hill,  Lucy  found  that  there  was  a  fine  view 
of  the  sea  from  the  window  of  the  carriage.  It 
looked  calm  and  beautiful.  There  were  islands 
of  various  forms,  some  covered  with  trees,  and 
some  with  sides  descending  to  the  water  in  long, 
green  slopes,  or  else  falling  off  suddenly  in  pre- 
cipitate banks ;  and  Lucy  saw  a  great  number  of 
7* 


78  LUCY    ON    THE    SEA-SHORE. 

ships  in  the  offing.  There  was  one  which  was 
sailing  between  the  islands,  which  Lucy  pointed 
out  to  Marielle,  and  said  that  it  was  exactly  like 
the  vessel  sailing  in  the  mosaic. 

They  found  that,  the  farther  they  receded  from 
the  city,  the  more  open  the  country  became  ;  and 
Lucy  and  Marielle  had  many  a  fine  prospect 
from  the  windows  of  the  carriage,  sometimes  to- 
wards the  land,  and  sometimes  towards  the 
sea.  At  length,  they  turned  off  somewhat  from 
the  main  road,  by  a  way  which  seemed  less 
frequented,  and  which  appeared  to  incline  more 
towards  the  shore.  The  road  soon  became  wild 
and  romantic.  Sometimes  it  led  through  the 
woods  ascending  a  hill.  Then,  at  the  top  of  the 
hill,  an  extended  view  of  the  sea  would  suddenly 
appear  before  them.  Then  they  would  descend 
the  hill,  and  ride  for  a  short  distance  close  to  the 
beach  at  the  head  of  a  little  bay ;  thence  along 
under  some  steep,  rocky  cliffs  ;  and,  at  the  end  of 
the  cliffs,  the  road  ascended  a  short  hill,  and 
plunged  into  the  woods  again,  where  no  signs  of 
the  sea  could  be  seen  ;  only  they  could  hear  the 
distant  roar  of  the  surf  upon  the  rocks  and 
promontories. 

At  last,  they  passed  round  the  head  of  a  bay 
filled  with  islands,  and  lined  with  a  white,  sandy 


THE    SEA-SttORE. 


79 


beach.  The  bay  was  bounded  by  two  rocky 
points,  which  extended  far  out  into  the  water, 
the  extremities  of  the  points  being  whitened  with 
the  tumbling  breakers.  They  followed  the  shore 
of  this  bay  a  short  distance,  and  then  turned  into 
a  road  that  led  into  a  little  dell  which  made  up 
from  the  shore  ;  and  there  the  carriage  stopped  at 
a  white  house  with  a  little  yard  and  garden  at  the 
side  of  it,  and  a  grove  of  trees  sheltering  it  be- 
hind. In  a  word,  Lucy  had  fairly  arrived  at  the 
sea-shore. 


80 


CHAPTER    VII. 
WALKS  AND  RIDES. 

The  house  which  Parker  had  found  for  them 
was  a  very  pleasant  one  indeed.  There  was  a 
little  parlor  below,  and  two  chambers  above  stairs, 
which  Lady  Jane  and  the  children  had  to  them- 
selves. On-e  chamber  was  for  Lady  Jane,  and 
the  other  was  for  Marielle  and  Lucy. 

At  tea-time  that  evening,  Lady  Jane  told  Ma- 
rielle and  Lucy  that  they  must  confine  themselves 
to  their  room  two  hours  every  forenoon,  engaged 
in  any  literaiy  occupations  they  pleased,  and  that 
at  other  times  they  might  go  out  and  amuse  them- 
selves in  rambling  around,  within  such  limits  as 
Parker  should  point  out.  She  said  that,  she  could 
not  go  out  with  them  a  great  deal  herself.  In 
fact,  Marielle  knew  very  well  that  her  mother 
would  not  be  out  with  them  a  great  deal,  as  her 
health  was  feeble,  and  she  was  generally  much 
confined  in  the  house.  Lucy  did  not  understand 
exactly  what  she  meant  by  literary  occupations, 
but  she  thought  she  would  wail  and  ask  Marielle 


WALKS    AND    RIDES.  81 

some  time.     She  did  ask  her  that  night,  after  they 
had  gone  to  bed. 

"  O,  she  means  that  we  may  read,  or  write,  or 
draw,"  said  Marielle,  "or  do  any  thing  whatever 
that  will  be  improving  to  us.  That's  always 
mother's  rule  when  I'm  away  from  home.  She 
says  it  is  not  a  good  plan  for  girls  to  play  all  day 
long." 

•  Lucy  was  very  sorry  to  hear  of  this  rule.  She 
had  imagined  that  she  could  play  upon  the  beach 
and  among  the  rocks  from  morning  to  night,  when 
she  got  upon  the  sea-shore.  However,  Marielle 
said  that  she  would  teach  her  to  draw ;  and  this 
proposition,  in  some  measure,  reconciled  Lucy  to 
the  plan  of  being  shut  up  in  her  room  two  hours 
every  day.  When  this  arrangement  had  been 
made,  the  children  bade  each  other  good  night, 
and  went  to  sleep,  agreeing  to  get  up  early  in  the 
morning,  and  go  out  and  take  a  walk  before 
breakfast. 

Accordingly,  the  next  morning,  a  little  after 
sunrise,  they  came  out  at  the  front  door  of  the 
house  together.  The  house,  as  was  stated  in  the 
last  chapter,  was  in  a  little  sheltered  valley,  or 
rather  dell,  which  opened  from  the  shore  of  the 
bay  ;  and  the  road,  therefore,  which  passed  in 
front  of  the  house,  led,  in  one  direction,  down  to 


82  LUCY   ON  THC   sea-shore. 

the  shore  of  the  bay,  and,  in  the  other  direction, 
farther  into  the  valley.  They  saw  that  this  road, 
which  led  back  from  the  sea,  after  passing  up  the 
valley  a  little  way,  began  to  ascend  a  hill ;  and 
Marielle  thought  that,  if  they  went  up  that  road, 
they  should  find  a  beautiful  prospect.  On  the 
other  hand,  if  they  went  down  the  road,  to  the 
shore  of  the  sea,  they  could  play  on  the  beach. 
They  were  somewhat  in  doubt  what  to  do.  M* 
rielle  was  rather  inclined  to  think  it  would  be 
best  to  go  up  the  road,  to  see  the  prospect  from 
the  hill. 

"  But,  Marielle,"  said  Lucy,  "  I  think  we  had 
better  go  down  to  the  shore.  I  have  been  on 
hills  a  great  many  times,  and  I  never  went  on 
a  shore.  And,  besides,  I  want  to  find  some  shells 
for  Royal." 

"  Yes,  but,  Lucy,"  replied  Marielle,  "  we  don't 
know  yet  where  it  is  safe  for  us  to  go  on  the 
shore.  Parker  is  coming,  after  breakfast,  to  show 
us  where  it  is  safe  ;  and  we  might  get  into  some 
difficulty  if  we  go  there  first.  But  we  can  go  up 
on  the  hill,  and  that  will  certainly  be  safe.  And 
then,  besides,  when  we  are  there,  we  can  see  the 
shores  all  around,  and  choose  pleasant  places  for 
our  walks.  We  can  see  the  islands,  and  the 
horizon,  and  ships  in  the  offing." 


WALKS    AND    RIDES.  83 

"  Well,"  said  Lucy,  "  then  I'll  go  up  on  the 
hill." 

They  accordingly  turned  away  from  the  direc- 
tion which  led  towards  the  shore,  and  walked 
along  up  the  dell.  Presently  the  road  began  to 
ascend  a  hill,  and,  after  walking  about  half  a  mile, 
they  came  to  the  top  of  it.  The  prospect  was 
very  magnificent  indeed.  They  found  that  the 
land  which  they  were  upon,  was  only  a  narrow 
cape,  extending  down  into  the  sea,  with  a  bay  on 
each  side  of  it ;  so  that,  in  leaving  the  house,  and 
coming  up  the  dell,  although  they  were  leaving 
the  sea  on  one  side,  yet  they  were  going  towards 
it  on  the  other ;  for  as  soon  as  they  reached  the 
summit,  by  going  on  down  the  other  side,  they 
would  come  to  the  beach  again.  Between  these 
two  bays  the  point  of  land  extended  out  nearly 
a  mile,  with  a  rocky  island  upon  the  end  of  it. 
There  was  a  lighthouse  upon  this  island.  They 
could  also  see  a  great  many  islands  scattered  about 
in  the  two  bays,  and  along  the  coast,  —  their 
shores  whitened  with  the  foam  of  the  waves  roll- 
ing against  them.  The  water  was  very  smooth, 
however,  at  a  little  distance  from  the  shore.  Lucy 
wondered  why  it  beat  so  restlessly  against  the 
rocks,  and  rolled  up  in  foam  upon  the  beaches, 
when   it  seemed   perfectly   smooth  out  at  sea. 


84  LUCY    ON    THE    SEA-SHORE 

Lucy  admired  the  smooth  and  beautiful  line  of 
the  horizon,  with  little  white  specks  here  and 
there,  which  Marielle  told  her  were  the  sails  of 
distant  vessels. 

Lucy  was  very  much  interested  in  the  light- 
house, too.  It  was  a  tall,  white  building,  with 
windows  all  around  in  the  top.  Marielle  said 
that  the  windows  were  to  let  the  light  shine 
through.  There  was  a  small  house  at  the  foot  of 
the  lighthouse,  where  Marielle  said  she  supposed 
the  man  lived  who  had  the  care  of  it.  The  island 
on  which  these  buildings  were  situated,  was  very 
rough  and  rocky,  with  precipices  on  the  sides, 
and  rugged  rocks  rising  in  various  places  all  over 
it.  Between  these,  however,  there  was  some 
smooth  ground,  covered  with  very  green  grass, 
and  a  few  trees. 

This  island  was  connected  with  the  shore  by 
a  narrow  strip  of  low,  sandy  land,  which  Lucy 
thought  was  a  road  that  the  people  had  made,  so 
as  to  get  over  to  the  lighthouse.  It  appeared  to 
be  about  as  wide  as  a  road ;  but  Marielle  told 
her  that  it  was  nothing  but  a  natural  beach. 

"  Well,"  said  Lucy,  "  at  any  rate,  it  will  do 
for  a  road.  We  can  get  over  to  the  lighthouse 
on  it." 


WALKS    AND    RIDES.  85 

"  Yes,"  said  Marielle,  "  perhaps  so.  It  looks 
smooth  and  dry." 

"  Let  us  ask  your  mother  to  let  us  go  over 
there,  then,"  said  Lucy,  "  some  day." 

"Yes,"  said  Marielle,  "I  will;  only  I  had 
rather  have  Parker  go  with  us." 

"  Well,"  replied  Lucy,  "  that  will  be  a  good 
plan." 

The  girls  then  concluded  to  go  home  to  break- 
fast. 

At  breakfast,  Marielle  told  her  mother  how  sur- 
prised they  were  to  find  that  the  land  which  they 
were  upon  was  only  a  narrow  point,  and  that,  by 
going  along  the  road  a  little  way,  they  could  pass 
over  it  to  a  sea-shore  on  the  other  side.  This 
was,  however,  no  new  intelligence  to  Lady  Jane. 
She  was  well  acquainted  with  the  conformations 
of  the  shore.  In  fact,  the  shore  was  deeply  in- 
dented with  bays,  and  bordered  with  islands,  for 
many  miles  along  the  coast ;  and  there  were 
houses  built  in  various  situations,  which  were  re- 
tired and  pleasant,  on  purpose  to  receive  com- 
pany which  came  to  enjoy  the  sea  breezes  in  the 
summer.  Some  of  these  houses  were  upon  the 
main  land,  and  some  upon  the  islands ;  and  at 
the  time  when  Lady  Jane  and  the  children  were 
there,  these  houses  were  generally  filled  with 
8 


86  LUCY    ON    THE    SEA-SHORE. 

company ;  so  that  the  children  often  met  ladies 
and  gentlemen  walking  upon  the  shores,  or  saw 
them  sailing  about  in  pleasure  parties  on  the 
water. 

There  was  a  little  village,  too,  pretty  near,  at  a 
place  called  the  landing.  There  was  a  hotel  at 
the  village,  and  considerable  company  at  the 
hotel.  The  hotel  was  about  a  mile  and  a  half 
from  the  house  which  Parker  had  chosen  for 
Lady  Jane.  Parker  kept  his  horses  at  the  hotel, 
where  there  was  a  large  stable  on  purpose  for 
keeping  horses ;  and  Parker  spent  the  night  at 
the  hotel  himself.  He  always  came  with  the 
carriage  every  morning  about  ten  o'clock,  to  take 
Lady  Jane  out  to  ride,  and  to  receive  his  orders 
for  the  day. 

Generally,  Marielle  and  Lucy  rode  with  Lady 
Jane.  The  rides  were  usually  around  the  shore, 
by  roads  made  on  purpose  for  such  drives 
Sometimes  Parker  would  drive  them  on  the  beach 
for  half  a  mile,  with  the  water  dashing  up  under 
the  horses'  feet,  and  under  the  wheels.  There 
was  one  beach,  in  particular,  which  was  very 
broad  and  white,  and  as  smooth  and  hard  as  a 
floor.  The  water  continued  rolling  upon  the 
sand,  in  a  succession  of  long  waves,  which  curled 
over,  and  broke,  at  last,  in  a  long,  white  roll  of 


WALKS    AND    RIDES.  87 

foam,  extending  from  end  to  end  of  the  beach. 
It  was  very  pleasant  for  them  to  ride  here,  with 
the  cool  air  from  the  sea,  fanning  them  in  their 
seats  in  the  carriage,  and  the  water  bathing  inces- 
santly the  road  beneath  their  wheels. 

One  of  the  pleasantest  rides  which  they  took 
was  down  to  the  lighthouse.  The  low,  sandy 
neck,  which  connected  the  lighthouse  island  with 
the  main  land,  answered  very  well  for  a  road 
when  the  water  was  not  too  high.  When  the 
tide  was  up,  it  was  covered,  so  that  it  was  impos- 
sible to  get  to  the  island  without  a  boat.  But, 
excepting  when  it  was  near  high  tide,  it  was  very 
pleasant  crossing  ;  and  even  when  it  was  barely 
covered,  Parker  would  drive  over  it,  the  horses 
walking  along  through  the  water.  Lucy  told 
Marielle  that  this  was  like  fording  the  rivers,  as 
she  did  when  she  was  among  the  mountains. 

The  lighthouse  was  kept  by  an  old  man  with 
a  wooden  leg.  He  had  a  small  boat,  and  he 
used  to  row  himself  out  in  it  to  catch  fish ;  and 
then  he  would  take  them  to  the  landing  in  his 
boat  to  sell.  His  name  was  Star.  His  wife  was 
older  than  he  was,  and  even  more  infirm-  She 
was  almost  blind.  She  used  to  sit  under  a  little 
porch  before  the  door,  knitting,  and  listening  to  the 
roar  of  the  surf  upon   the   beach.     Lady   Jane 


88  LUCY    ON   THE    SEA-SHORE. 

used  often  to  go  down  and  see  her,  and  talk  with 
her  about  old  times.  One  day,  when  they  were 
coming  home  from  a  visit  to  the  lighthouse,  Ma- 
rielle  asked  her  mother  why  she  liked  to  talk  with 
the  old  lady  so  much  about  old  times. 

"  Partly  because  I  like  to  hear  what  she  has  to 
say,"  replied  Lady  Jane,  "  and  partly  because  it 
pleases  her  to  tell  me." 

"  Does  it  please  her  particularly  to  tell  you  ?  " 
asked  Marielle. 

"  Yes,"  replied  her  mother.  "  Old  people  are 
always  very  fond  of  telling  about  old  times.  In 
the  first  place,  they  remember  more  distinctly 
what  took  place  when  they  were  young,  and 
talking  about  it  brings  up  very  vivid  scenes, 
which  interest  their  minds.  And  then  it  makes 
them  feel  as  if  they  were  of  some  consequence, 
to  find  that  what  they  know  is  interesting  to  other 
people." 

Lucy  resolved  that,  some  time  when  she  and 
Marielle  were  down  at  the  lighthouse,  she  would 
talk  with  the  old  lady  herself  about  old  times. 

Not  very  far  from  where  they  were  residing, 
there  was  the  wreck  of  a  vessel,  driven  partly  up 
on  the  beach,  so  that  Marielle  and  Lucy  could 
climb  into  it  when  the  tide  was  low  enough. 
The  wreck  had  pretty  nearly   gone  to  pieces : 


WALKS    AND    RIDES.  89 

indeed,  little  was  left  excepting  the  ribs  ;  and  these 
were  partly  buried  in  the  sand.  It  seemed  to  be 
fallen  over  upon  one  side,  and  it  looked  so  old 
that  the  children  concluded  that  it  had  been  there 
a  great  many  years;  Lucy  thought  at  least  as 
many  as  a  hundred.  The  wood  was  all  covered, 
as  high  as  the  tide  came  up,  with  curious-looking 
things,  like  little  shells.  Parker  told  them  that 
they  were  called  barnacles. 

The  girls  regularly  spent  two  hours,  in  the 
morning,  in  their  room.  Sometimes  they  read  ; 
sometimes  they  wrote  ;  and  sometimes,  for  several 
days  in  succession,  they  devoted  the  whole  two 
hours  to  drawing.  Lady  Jane  did  not  tell  them 
the  reason  why  she  required  them  to  remain  at 
their  tables  a  part  of  every  day ;  but  the  reason 
was,  that  she  knew  that  they  would  enjoy  them- 
selves a  great  deal  more,  during  those  hours  of  the 
day  which  they  spent  in  play,  if  they  were  con- 
fined to  their  studies  a  part  of  the  time.  So  she 
always  adopted  this  plan  with  Marielle  when  they 
were  away  from  home,  excepting  the  days  when 
they  were  actually  on  the  road. 

The  girls  became  so  interested  in  their  drawing, 
that  at  last  they  earned  their  paper  and  some 
pencils  down  to  the  sea-shore,  and  attempted  to 
draw  there.     The  first  lesson  was  the  lighthouse. 


90  LUCY    ON    THE    SEA-SHORE. 

They  found  a  place  among  the  rocks  where  they 
could  see  it  very  distinctly;  and  so,  putting  their 
papers  upon  a  book,  and  holding  the  books  in 
their  laps,  they  worked  for  half  an  hour. 

Marielle  succeeded  with  her  drawing  very 
well.  Lucy  looked  at  it  repeatedly  while  Ma- 
rielle was  at  work  upon  it ;  and  when  it  was 
finished,  she  said  that  it  looked  very  much  like  a 
lighthouse. 

"  But  as  for  mine,"  she  added,  "  it  looks  more 
like  a  picture  of  Eben's  lantern  than  like  a  light- 
house." 

"Eben's  lantern!  What  Eben?"  asked  Ma- 
rielle. 

"  Why,  the  general's  Eben,"  replied  Lucy. 

"  Where  does  he  live  ? "  said  Marielle. 

"  O,  among  the  mountains,"  said  Lucy. 


91 

CHAPTER    VIII. 
A  TRUE  STORY. 

One  evening.,  Marielle  and  Lucy  wanted  to  go 
and  take  a  walk  upon  the  sea-shore.  Marielle 
asked  her  mother  whether  Parker  could  go  with 
them,  for  he  sometimes  went  with  them,  to  take 
care  of  them  on  their  walks,  especially  when  they 
went  out  near  the  evening.  But  her  mother  said 
that  she  believed  she  would  go  with  them  herself. 

So  they  set  out,  and  went  down  upon  the  point 
towards  the  lighthouse.  It  was  just  before  sun- 
down. 

They  came  to  a  place  where  there  was  a  car- 
penter at  work  repairing  a  wharf.  It  was  a  small 
wharf,  where  fishing-boats  were  accustomed  to 
land.  They  had  seen  the  carpenter  before,  and 
they  sat  down  upon  a  large  stick  of  timber,  which 
was  lying  upon  the  wharf,  to  see  what  he  was 
doing. 

"It  is  a  pleasant  evening,"  said  LiuV  Jane. 

"  Yes,  madam,"  said  the  carpenter,  "  a  very 
pleasant  evening      I'm  glad  of  it  for  the  sake  of 


92  LUCY    ON    THE    SEA-SHORE.  • 

the  shipping  off  the  coast,  though  they  do  some- 
times get  into  difficulty  even  in  pleasant  weather.'' 

"  Ah  !  do  they  ?  "  said  Lady  Jane. 

"  Yes,"  replied  the  carpenter.  ';  I  was  cast 
away  once  myself,  in  as  pleasant  an  evening  as 
this  ;  only  it  was  not  in  this  season  of  the  year. 
It  was  in  November,  about  nine  o'clock,  a  fine 
moonlight  evening." 

"How  was  it?"  said  Lady  Jane.  "Tell  us 
all  about  it." 

"  'Twas  a  number  of  years  ago,"  replied  the 
carpenter.  "  It  was  in  November  —  a  bright  and 
moonlight  evening  in  November.  I  had  been  at 
work  at  the  eastward.  I  was  an  apprentice  then, 
and  was  going  home.  We  shipped  on  board  of  a 
sloop  loaded  with  lumber.  We  had  a  very  heavy 
load.  There  were  three  or  four  store  frames  on 
the    deck  —  very  long  timbers.     Some  of  them 

stretched  out  ten  feet   over   the   bows,    and  so 

c 

away  back  to  the  quarter-deck. 

"  We  were  cumbered  up  so  much  that  the 
captain  was  afraid  to  go  out  unless  the  prospect 
was  very  fair.  So  he  waited  some  time  ;  and  at 
last  the  passengers  began  to  get  tired,  and  wanted 
him  to  go  out.  There  were  as  many  as  thirty 
passengers,  and  one  or  two  old  sea-captains 
among  them.     The  captain   of  the  sloop   was 


A    TRUE    STORY.  93 

rather  a  young  man  ;  and  besides  him,  there  were 
a  mate  and  a  boy,  and  that  was  all  that  belonged 
to  the  sloop.  We  ran  down  to  the  mouth  of  the 
river  once  or  twice ;  but,  when  we  got  there,  the 
captain  thought  the  wind  was  not  promising 
enough.     So  we  ran  back  again. 

"  At  last,  one  afternoon,  we  went  down  ;  but, 
when  we  got  to  the  mouth  of  the  river,  the  captain 
was  still  rather  unwilling  to  go  out.  The  moon 
was  almost  full,  and  shining  clear.  It  would  be 
full  at  midnight.  The  wind  was  north-east, 
and  the  captain  said  that,  when  the  moon  changed, 
if  the  wind  should  come  in  at  the  north-west,  he 
should  lose  his  deck-load.  It  would  blow  him 
off.  So  he  wanted  to  wait  till  after  midnight,  to 
see  how  the  weather  looked  then.  But  the 
passengers  persuaded  him  to  put  out,  and  so 
he  did. 

"  We  had  a  very  fine  sail  along  the  shore  that 
evening.  I  could  see  the  land  all  the  way.  I 
remember  I  got  into  a  hogshead  that  was  on 
deck,  one  head  out,  for  the  cabin  was  so  full  of 
passengers,  that  there  was  no  room  to  lie  down 
on  any  thing.  The  wind  was  fair,  a  little  off 
shore,  and  we  went  on  well,  main  sheet  all  out, 
till  about  eight  o'clock,  when  I  heard  the  man  at 
the  helm  say,  '  There  are  breakers  on  the  weath- 


94  LUCY    ON    THE    SEA-SHORE. 

er  of  us.'  He  put  the  helm  hard  up,  but  it  was 
too  late.     We  struck  a  moment  afterwards. 

"  It  was  a  smooth  sort  of  a  rock,  which  lay 
shelving  in  the  water,  and  the  bows  of  the  sloop 
slid  up  on  it  about  ten  feet.  So  we  didn't  strike 
solid.  But  there  we  were,  fast.  The  tide  was 
ebbing.  The  captain  was  below  ;  but  he  came 
up,  and  he,  and  die  mate,  and  the  boy,  took  to  the 
boat.  The  boat  was  astern.  They  got  on  board 
of  her,  and  pushed  off,  and  said  that  they  were 
going  to  the  shore  to  get  help.  And  so  away 
they  went,  without  leaving  any  orders,  or  telling 
us  what  to  do.     They  were  gone  three  hours." 

"  What  time  did  you  say  this  was  ?  "  asked 
Marielle. 

"  This  was  about  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening," 
said  the  carpenter.  "  As  soon  as  they  were 
gone,  we  went  to  work.  First,  we  handed  the 
sails,  and  then  we  got  up  our  tools.  I  had  my 
chest  of  tools  below.  I  was  apprentice  then,  and 
the  man  I  worked  with  was  aboard  too.  We  eot 
our  tools,  and  went  to  work  with  every  thing  that 
would  cut,  and  cut  up  these  long  timbers  on  the 
deck,  and  got  them  overboard.  The  sea  was 
pretty  smooth,  but  the  swell  dashed  the  spray 
upon  us  some,  though  we  didn't  mind  it.  The 
tide  ebbed  away,  and,  after  a  while,  it  left  the 


A   TRUE    STORY.  95 

rocks  bare  on  one  side  —  the  side  next  the  shore.  I 
got  down  on  the  rocks  once  on  that  side.  On  the 
other  side  it  was  deep  water.  We  would  throw 
over  a  piece  of  timber  thirty  feet  long,  and  it 
didn't  seem  to  strike  bottom. 

"  We  worked  away  all  night.  About  mid- 
night, we  heard  the  boat  coming.  The  captain 
came  near  enough  to  hail  us,  but  he  wouldn't 
come  on  board.  He  didn't  dare  to.  He  said 
that  help  was  coming.  There  was  a  brig,  he 
said,  with  a  large  crew  up  a  bay,  and  he  had  sent 
to  them,  to  come  down  with  boats. 

"  The  people  built  fires,  too,  all  along  the  shore., 
We  were  not  more  than  a  mile  from  the  shore, 
and  we  could  see  them  around  the  fires  quite 
plain.  We  got  along  very  well  as  long  as  we 
had  work  to  do ;  but  about  two  o'clock,  we  got 
the  deck-load  all  off,  and  then  we  had  nothing  to 
do,  and  it  .began  to  seem  rather  lonesome.  Be- 
sides, the  tide,  by  this  time,  rose  again,  and  floated 
the  stern  of  the  sloop  off  the  rock  ;  and  then 
every  swell  of  the  sea  would  lift  up  the  stern,  and 
let  it  down  again  hard.  So  we  kept  thumping. 
Finally,  it  carried  away  the  rudder,  and  stove  in 
the  stern,  so  that  the  hold  and  cabin  were  half 
full  of  water. 

"  At  last,  we  heard  the  boats  coming.     There 


96  LUCY    ON    THE    SEA-SHORE. 

were  three  of  them.  They  came  right  up  along- 
side. As  soon  as  we  heard  them,  every  one  went 
to  work  getting  a  few  of  their  things  together 
in  handkerchiefs  and  bundles,  to  save  a  little 
something  if  they  could.  But  as  soon  as  the 
boats  came  alongside,  1  don't  think  it  was  more 
than  three  minutes  before  we  were  all  in,  and  had 
pushed  off.  There  was  one  man  there  who  went 
down  into  the  cabin  to  get  his  trunk,  and,  while 
he  was  there,  the  sloop  thumped  so  hard  as  to 
knock  him  down,  and  stun  him  ;  and  then  it 
tumbled  him  about  on  the  cabin  floor.  He  could 
not  get  up  again,  and  several  men  had  to  go 
down  and  hand  him  right  up  the  companion-way 
by  main  force.     He  was  stunned. 

"  So  we  all  got  into  the  boats,  only  there  was 
one  man,  the  boatswain  of  the  brig,  who  said  he 
would  stay  on  board,  if  any  body  would  stay  with 
him  ;  and  another  one  volunteered  to  do  it.  So 
they  staid  while  the  boats  went  to  the  shore  and 
came  back. 

"  While  we  were  gone,  the  tide  got  up  so  high 
that  it  floated  the  sloop  off  the  rocks,  and  she 
drifted  away  into  deep  water,  until  they  let  go  the 
anchor,  and  that  held  her.  She  was  pretty  much 
full  of  water,  but  she  could  not  sink,  for  she  was 
loaded   with    boards.     We   had   forty   thousand 


A    TRUE    STORY.  97 

feet  of  boards  below.  She  lay  there  till  the  next 
day,  and  then  they  went  out  with  a  great  number 
of  boats,  and  undertook  to  tow  her  in.  But  it 
was  very  slow  work.  You  see,  the  rudder  was 
gone,  and  they  couldn't  steer  her ;  and  she  yawed 
about  so,  that  they  could  hardly  do  any  thing  with 
her.  Finally,  they  got  her  in,  and  repaired  her, 
but  it  took  all  winter.  I  did  not  get  my  things,  I 
know,  till  the  next  June." 

"  Then  they  repaired  the  vessel  ?  "  said  Lady 
Jane. 

"  Yes,"  said  the  carpenter ;  "  they  repaired  her, 
and  sent  her  to  sea  again." 

"  I  think  you  had  a  very  narrow  escape,"  said 
Lady  Jane. 

"  Yes,"  said  the  carpenter ;  "  it  was  well  for 
us  that  it  was  a  still  night.  If  the  wind  had 
breezed  up  while  the  captain  was  gone  ashore,  it 
would  have  staved  us  all  to  pieces." 

As  the  carpenter  said  this,  he  gathered  up  his 
tools,  and  began  to  go  away,  for  it  was  time  for 
him  to  leave  off  his  work.  Lady  Jane  and  the 
two  girls  rambled  along  the  shore  a  little  while, 
and  then  they  turned  towards  home. 

"  Mother,"  said  Marielle,  after  she  had  been 
walking  along  a  few  minutes  in  silence,  "  I  never 
9 


98  LUCY    ON    THE    SEA-SHORE. 

heard  of  a  shipwreck  in  a  pleasant  evening  hs 
fore." 

"I  suppose  it  is  not  very  usual,"  said  Lady 
Jane.  "  In  the  pleasant  evenings,  they  can  see 
the  rocks  and  breakers,  and  so  avoid  them." 

"  What  are  breakers  ?  "  asked  Lucy. 

"  They  are  the  waves  breaking  over  rocks  that 
are  under  water,"  replied  Lady  Jane.  "  When 
the  water  is  deep,  the  waves  roll  along  regularly  ; 
but  if  there  are  any  rocks,  the  water  breaks  and 
foams  against  them,  and  that  gives  the  sailors 
warning." 

"  There's  one  thing  I  did  not  understand," 
said  Marielle,  "  about  the  captain  and  his  boat. 
The  carpenter  said  that  the  captain  only  came 
back  near  enough  to  speak  to  them,  but  he 
wouldn't  come  to  the  vessel." 

"  Yes,"  said  Lady  Jane ;  "  I  remember  he 
said  so." 

"  He  said  the  captain  was  afraid  to  come." 

"  Yes,"  replied  Lady  Jane ;  "  he  was  afraid 
that  the  passengers  would  all  come  crowding  into 
the  boat,  and  sink  it.  That  is  the  way  they  often 
do  when  a  vessel  is  wrecked,  or  in  any  very  urgent 
danger.  The  passengers  and  crew  sometimes  all 
crowd  into  the  boats,  and  so  they  sink  them." 


A    TRUE    STORY.  99 

"  It  seems  to  me  that  is  very  foolish,"  said 
Lucy. 

"  Yes,"  said  Lady  Jane,  "  it  seems  foolish  ;  but 
they  are  all  so  eager  to  escape  from  the  danger, 
that  they  don't  consider.  Each  one  hopes  that  the 
boat  will  hold  one  more;  and  they  get  it  so  full 
that  it  sinks,  or  else  it  is  loaded  down  so  deep 
that  the  waves  break  over  it,  and  fill  it  with  water, 
as  soon  as  they  attempt  to  sail  away.  It  often 
requires  great  presence  of  mind  and  energy  in  the 
captain,  to  prevent  the  boats  being  overloaded,  in 
case  of  anv  urgent  danger  at  sea." 


"*.<&•<«*'{'  Jj?**^-j  nir 


100 


CHAPTER    IX. 

THE   RESCUE. 

Parker  had  instructed  Marielle  and  Lucy  that, 
when  the  tide  was  going  down,  it  was  safe  for 
them  to  walk  out  over  low  places  in  the  sands, 
for  then  they  would  find  the  water  lower  still 
when  they  wanted  to  come  back.  But  when  the 
tide  was  rising,  he  thought  they  ought  to  be  very 
careful  to  keep  away  from  the  low  sands.  He 
meant  such  low  sands  as  led  off  to  little  islands, 
or  under  the  base  of  the  cliffs ;  for  there  were 
several  places  where  there  were  cliffs  almost 
perpendicular,  which  the  sea  dashed  against  with 
great  fury  ;  only,  when  the  tide  was  nearly  down, 
there  came  a  little  beach  into  view,  at  the  bottom, 
wide  enough  for  Lucy  and  Marielle  to  walk  upon 
along  under  the  rocks.  Parker  charged  them  to 
keep  away  from  all  such  places  when  the  tide 
was  coming  up,  for  fear  that  they  might  get  en- 
trapped somewhere  by  the  water. 

Near  a  place  where  the  broad  beach  ended, 
and  the  cliffs  began,  there  was  a  little  island  at  a 


THE    FESCUE.  101 

short  distance  from  the  shore.  The  LVind  was 
a  large  rock,  with  ragged  and  broken  edges  all 
around,  and  the  surface,  all  over  the  top,  was 
covered  with  innumerable  chasms  and  fissures. 
Still  the  rock  was  not  very  high  above  the  water. 
and  the  top  of  it  was  nearly  flat  in  its  general 
form,  and  the  chasms  in  it  were  not  deep,  so  that 
Marielle  and  Lucy  could  clamber  all  over  it. 
They  liked  to  go  out  to  this  rock  when  the  tide 
was  half  down,  and  still  ebbing.  They  called  it 
their  castle.  Parker  told  them  it  was  a  safe  place 
for  them,  if  they  were  careful  not  to  get  caught 
there.  "  O,  we'll  take  care  ;  we  won't  get  caught," 
said  Marielle,  at  the  time  when  Parker  was  giving 
them  their  instructions. 

"  If  such  an  accident  should  happen,"  said 
Parker,  "  there  will  be  no  occasion  for  any  alarm, 
Miss  Marielle." 

"  What  should  we  do  ? "  asked  Marielle. 

"  Nothing  but  remain  on  the  rock,  and  in  a 
short  time  you  would  be  missed  at  home,  and  I 
should  come  in  pursuit  of  you." 

"But  perhaps  the  tide  would  come  up  and 
drown  us  before  then,"  said  Lucy. 

"  No,"  said  Parker ;  "  this  rock  is  not  covered 
at  ordinary  tides.  Great  storms  drive  over  it ;  but, 
at  this  season  of  the  year,  for  months  at  a  time,  the 
9* 


102  LUCY    ON    THE    SEA-SHORE. 

top  of  it  is  not  even  wet  with  the  spray.  How- 
ever, it  is  best  to  keep  away  from  it  when  the 
tide  is  flowing." 

Lucy  determined  that  she  would  not  go  on  it 
at  all,  when  Parker  said  this ;  but  her  fears  dimin- 
ished as  she  became  more  accustomed  to  the  sea ; 
and  finally  they  used  to  go  out  to  the  castle  pretty 
often.  There  was  a  smooth,  sandy  beach,  which 
led  to  it,  when  the  tide  was  half  out,  very  much 
like  the  little  isthmus  which  led  to  the  lighthouse 
island. 

One  afternoon,  the  children  were  down  upon 
the  shore,  drawing.  Marielle  had  been  trying  to 
draw  the  old  wreck.  She  thought  it  would  be 
very  easy ;  but,  instead  of  that,  she  found  it  was 
very  difficult  indeed,  it  was  so  irregular  in  its 
form.  Presently  they  saw  some  ladies  walking 
along  towards  them  on  the  shore.  So  Marielle 
put  her  paper  and  pencil  into  her  little  portfolio, 
and  began  to  walk  along  with  Lucy  towards  the 
castle.  There  was  a  boat  nearly  opposite  the 
front  of  this  rock,  lying  at  anchor.  The  water 
was  smooth,  and  the  boat  looked  beautifully,  sit- 
ting upon  it  like  a  bird.  It  was  painted  green,  and 
it  had  one  tall  and  slender  mast,  and  a  very  few 
ropes.  Marielle  immediately  determined  that  she 
would  draw  it. 


THE    RESCUE.  103 

"  It  will  be  a  beautiful  drawing  lesson,"  said 
Marielle,  "  and  I  think  it  will  be  easy,  because 
there  are  so  few  ropes.  We  will  go  out  on  our 
castle,  and  then  I  can  get  an  excellent  pla^e  to 
sit  and  draw  it." 

"  Well,"  said  Lucy,  "  I'll  make  a  mark." 

So  Lucy  picked  up  a  broken  shell,  which  was 
lying  upon  the  sand,  and  went  to  "  make  a  mark," 
as  she  expressed  it,  in  order  to  see  whether  the 
tide  was  going  out,  or  coming  in.  It  was  a 
method  which  they  usually  adopted.  There  was 
an  almanac  at  the  house,  which  told  them  at  what 
time  it  would  be  high  water ;  but  they  did  not 
like  to  trust  the  almanac  entirely,  especially  as  it 
was  so  easy  to  make  a  mark,  and  see  for  them- 
selves. Marielle  said  that  there  might  possibly 
be  some  mistake  in  the  almanac. 

They  usually  made  their  mark  upon  the  beach, 
at  the  highest  place  which  the  water  came  to  as 
it  rolled  up  the  slope  of  sand  ;  for,  when  a  long, 
white  wave  broke  into  foam,  there  was  generally 
a  thin  sheet  of  water  which  came  from  it,  that 
glided  many  feet  up  the  slope  of  the  beach. 
Now,  they  would  watch  this  wave,  as  it  glided  in 
towards  their  feet,  and  draw  a  line  on  the  sand  at 
the  place  where  it  stopped.  Then  the  water 
would  all  run  down  the  slope  again,  until  If  was 


104  LUCY    ON   THE    SEA-SHORE. 

met  by  another  great  wave,  curling  over  and 
breaking  upon  it  in  foam.  They  wculd  watch 
these  returning  billows  for  a  few  minutes,  mark 
every  one,  and  then  they  would  select  the  highest 
of  their  marks,  and  deepen  that  a  little,  and 
smooth  over  the  others.  Then  they  would  play 
about  on  the  beach  a  few  minutes,  until  the  tide 
had  time  to  rise  or  fall  a  little,  when  they  would 
return  to  the  place  which  they  had  marked,  and 
observe  whether  the  waves  came  up  higher  than 
their  mark,  or  not  so  high  ;  and  thus  they  satisfied 
themselves  whether  the  tide  was  rising  or  falling. 

Lucy  accordingly  made  a  mark  ;  and,  after  wait- 
ing a  little  time,  they  found  the  tide  was  falling. 
This  corresponded  with  what  the  almanac  had 
predicted ;  for,  by  the  almanac,  the  tide  was  to 
be  high  at  noon,  and,  as  it  was  now  afternoon,  it 
ought  to  be  going  down. 

Being  convinced,  therefore,  by  the  united  evi- 
dence of  the  almanac  and  their  observation,  that 
the  tide  was  going  down,  the  girls  walked  over 
the  sand,  and  ascended  the  rock,  They  clam- 
bered along  towards  the  outer  edge  of  it.  Mari- 
elle  helped  Lucy  over  the  chasms  and  ragged, 
places.  They  found  a  very  pleasant  place  to  sit, 
on  the  side  of  the  rock  which  was  towards  the 
little  sail-boat ;  for  the  sail-boat  was  in  a  sort  of 


THE    RESCUE.  105 

cove,  which  had  the  castle  and  the  sandy  neck  on 
one  side,  and  the  beach  on  the  other,  so  that  it 
could  be  seen  either  from  the  shore  or  from  the 
castle,  but  better  from  the  castle,  because  it  was 
nearer  to  it  than  it  was  to  the  main  land.  Be- 
sides, the  girls  found  a  better  place  to  sit  down 
and  draw,  upon  the  rocks  of  their  island,  than  they 
could  upon  the  low,  sandy  beach  of  the  main 
land. 

After  they  had  been  drawing  here  for  some 
time,  Lucy  got  tired,  and  she  laid  her  pencil 
down  by  her  side,  saying  that  she  could  not  draw 
a  vessel. 

"  It  is  not  a  vessel,"  said  Marielle ;  "  it  is  only 
a  boat." 

"  It  has  got  a  mast,"  said  Lucy,  "  and  some 
ropes." 

"  Yes,"  replied  Marielle  ;  "  but  it  is  only  a  sail 
ing-boat." 

"  Well,"  said  Lucy,  "  it  is  hard  to  draw,  at  any 
rate.  It  is  as  hard  as  a  vessel,  because  of  the 
ropes ;  and  I'm  not  going  to  draw  any  more.  I'm 
going  to  see  this  log." 

What  Lucy  called  a  log  was  part  of  the  topmast 
of  a  vessel  that  was  lying  upon  the  sand.  This 
topmast  had  been  driven  upon  the  rocks  in  this 


106  LUCY    ON    THE    SEA-SHORE. 

place,  and  had  got  wedged  in  among  them,  and 
there  it  had  been  lying  for  many  years. 

"  Lucy,"  said  Marielle,  "  you  must  not  go 
down  near  the  water." 

"  No,"  said  Lucy ;  "  I'm  only  going  down  to, 
sit  on  this  great  log." 

"  I  think  that  is  rather  too  near,"  said  Marielle. 
"  That  is  pretty  near  the  sea-weed.  Parker  said 
we  must  keep  away  from  the  sea-weed." 

Parker  had  told  Marielle  that  these  rocks, 
which  were  near  the  water's  edge,  when  they 
were  covered  with  sea-weed,  were  very  slippery. 
The  tide,  rising  and  falling  over  them,  kept  them 
wet ;  and,  though  the  sea-weed  might  appear  dry 
sometimes  upon  the  top,  it  was  often  very  wet 
and  slippery  below. 

Lucy,  therefore,  did  not  go  very  near,  but  sat 
down  upon  the  end  of  the  broken  topmast,  and 
began  to  look  out  upon  the  water,  to  see  what  was 
to  be  seen. 

"  O  Marielle,"  said  Lucy,  "  there  is  a  great, 
white  bird  ;  look  at  him  !  " 

"  Yes,  in  a  minute,"  said  Marielle. 

"  He'll  be  gone  in  a  minute,"  said  Lucy  ;  "  he's 
going  behind  that  island." 

"  No  matter,"  said  Marielle.  "  I  am  just 
making   the   seats   in    this  boat." 


THE    RESCUE.  107 

Marielle  did  not  look  away  from  her  work. 
She  moved  her  eyes  alternately  from  her  drawing 
to  the  sail-boat,  and  from  the  sail-boat  to  the 
drawing.  Lucy  did  not  urge  her  to  look  at  the 
bird,  for  just  then  he  disappeared  behind  some 
trees  ;  and,  besides,  Lucy's  attention  was  attracted 
by  hearing  a  peculiar  sound,  like  the  rattling  of 
oars,  coming  over  the  water.  The  sound  was 
faint  and  distant.  Lucy  looked  in  the  direction 
from  which  it  came,  and  listened  very  attentively. 

Presently  she  called  out  to  Marielle,  — ' 

"  Marielle,  here's  a  boat  coming." 

"  Well,"  said  Marielle. 

"  Look  !  Marielle,  look  !  Here  is  a  boat  com- 
ing round  the  rock.     It  is  coming  this  way." 

"  Yes,"  said  Marielle,  "  I'll  look  in  a  minute." 

"  There  are  two  men  in  it,  Marielle,"  continued 
Lucy. 

Marielle  looked  up  from  her  work,  and  saw,  as 
Lucy  had  said,  a  small  boat  coming  across  the 
water,  directly  towards  them.  There  were  two 
men  in  it.  One  was  in  the  middle  of  the  boat, 
with  his  back  towards  them,  rowing.  The  other 
was  in  the  farther  end  of  it,  with  his  face  towards 
the  children.  He  was  steering.  The  boat  had 
come  out  from  a  little  cove :  it  had  turned,  and 
now  seemed  to  be  coming  directly  towards  them 


108  LUCY    ON    THE    SEA-SHORE. 

Marlelle  and  Lucy  watched  it,  expecting  every 
moment  to  see  it  turn  off  to  go  somewhere  else ; 
but  it  did  not.  It  continued  to  advance  directly 
towards  them,  as  they  thought,  though,  at  length, 
Marielle  perceived  that  its  course  was  beginning  to 
tend  more  directly  towards  the  sail-boat  than  to 
them.  All  uncertainty  as  to  its  destination  was 
soon  ended,  as  it  approached  nearer  and  nearer  the 
sail-boat,  until,  at  last,  the  man  who  was  rowing 
took  in  his  oars,  and  the  little  skiff  swept  swiftly 
around,  and  came  up  close  alongside  the  sail-boat. 

Both  men  stepped  into  the  sail-boat.  The 
man  who  had  been  in  the  stern  of  the  small  boat 
was  a  well-dressed  gentleman.  The  other  ap- 
peared to  be  a  sailor.  The  gentleman  took  his 
seat  in  the  stern  of  the  sail-boat,  while  the  sailor 
appeared  to  fasten  the  skiff  to  the  buoy  to  which 
the  sail-boat  had  been  moored.  After  he  had 
fastened  it,  Lucy  looked  at  the  gentleman  again, 
and  found  that  he  was  doing  something  to  the 
rudder.  While  he  was  at  work  adjusting  the 
rudder,  the  sailor  unfastened  the  sail,  and  hoisted 
it.  There  was  not  much  wind,  but  the  sail  filled, 
and  the  boat  slowly  turned  away,  and,  a  little 
breeze  springing  up,  it  began  to  glide  rapidly  over 
the  water.  The  wind,  pressing  upon  the  sail, 
caused  the  boat  to  lean  over  towards  the  rock 


THE    RESCUE.  Ill 

where  Marielle  and  Lucy  were  sitting,  so  that 
they  could  see  into  it  very  plainly.  The  sailor 
was  seated  not  very  far  from  the  mast,  and  the 
gentleman  in  the  stern,  steering.  The  girls 
watched  the  boat  a  few  minutes  in  silence,  and 
they  saw  that,  as  soon  as  it  had  got  clear  of  the 
rocks  and  islands,  it  changed  its  course  a  little, 
and  sailed  away  down  towards  the  lighthouse. 

"  I  think  that's  a  very  polite  young  gentleman," 
said  Marielle,  "  to  come  and  take  away  my  draw- 
ing-lesson." 

So  saying,  she  looked  down  upon  her  unfinished 
work  in  despair. 

"  Yes,"  said  Lucy ;  "  and  I'm  glad,  for  there 
are  not  any  ropes  to  that  little  boat,  and  I  can 
draw  it  myself." 

So  Lucy  began  to  climb  up  the  rocks  again  to 
find  her  paper  and  pencil,  to  draw  the  little  boat 
which  had  been  substituted  for  the  large  one. 

By  this  time,  however,  Marielle  was  tired  of 
drawing ;  and  Lucy,  though  she  was  very  eager 
to  attempt  it,  soon  found  that  a  boat  was  very  dif- 
ficult to  draw,  even  though  it  had  no  ropes.  So 
she  soon  gave  up,  and  the  girls  concluded  to  go 
towards  home.  They  rose  from  their  seats,  and 
began  to  walk  along  over  the  top  of  the  castle  rock. 

Although  the  rock  had  a  great  many  fissures 


112  LUCY    ON    THE    SEA-SHORE. 

and  chasms  in  it,  yet  its  surface  was  smooth,  hav- 
ing been  worn  by  the  action  of  the  waves  fo: 
thousands  of  years. 

They  walked  slowly  along  over  these  rocks 
towards  the  sandy  isthmus  by  which  they  ex- 
pected to  get  to  the  shore.  They  had  taken  so 
much  precaution  to  be  sure  that  the  tide  was 
going  down,  that  they  did  not  anticipate  any  dif- 
ficulty in  getting  off  the  island.  But  they  en- 
countered a  difficulty  of  a  very  unexpected  kind. 
There  was  a  herd  of  cows  that  had  been  feeding 
upon  a  pasture  on  the  land,  but  they  had  come 
down  to  the  water,  for  what  purpose  the  children 
could  not  imagine  ;  and  there  they  stood,  some  on 
the  shore,  and  some  just  in  the  edge  of  the  water, 
and  others  on  the  little  isthmus,  but  all  exactly 
in  the  way  where  Marielle  and  Lucy  wanted  to 
go.  There  seemed  to  be  no  way  to  get  off  the 
island,  but  to  go  directly  through  this  great  herd 
of  cows.  This  Marielle  and  Lucy  were  afraid 
to  do. 

The  children  tried  for  some  time,  ineffectually, 
to  drive  the  cows  away,  but  they  would  not  move. 
The  truth  is,  the  girls  had  no  weapons.  There 
were  neither  sticks  nor  stones  to  be  found.  There 
were  plenty  of  stones  on  the  main  shore,  back 
from  the  beach ;  but  here,  where  they  were,  there 


THE    RESCUE.  113 

was  nothing  but  sand  ;  so  that  Marielle  and  Lucy 
had  no  means  of  driving  the  cows  away,  but  to 
stand  and  brandish  their  arms  at  them,  and  en- 
deavor to  frighten  them  off  by  shouts  and  scolding. 
But  as  they  did  not  dare  to  go  very  near,  the 
cows  remained  motionless  in  their  places,  without 
paying  any  attention  to  them  whatever. 

After  remaining  a  few  minutes  in  this  situation, 
the  girls  began  to  feel  somewhat  anxious  ;  but  their 
anxiety  was  soon  relieved  by  seeing  a  gentleman 
coming  towards  them  from  under  the  cliffs,  which 
lined  the  shore,  below  the  place  where  the  castle 
rock  joined  the  main  land.  He  was  walking  very 
slowly,  and  he  appeared  feeble.  He  had  a  cane 
in  his  hand,  and,  as  soon  as  he  came  into  view, 
the  girls  saw  that  he  was  looking  at  them.  They 
therefore  ceased  their  useless  efforts  to  drive  away 
the  cows,  and  waited  to  see  if  he  would  come 
and  help  them.  To  their  great  joy,  he  turned 
towards  them,  continuing  to  walk,  however,  as 
slowly  as  before.  Marielle  thought  to  herself  that 
he  might  have  come  a  little  quicker ;  but  she  was 
glad  to  see  that  he  was  coming  at  all.  He  paid 
no  attention  to  the  cows,  but  walked  directly 
through  the  herd  ;  one  of  the  cows  moved  a  step 
or  two  out  of  his  way,  but  the  rest  remained  just 
as  they  were. 

10* 


114  LUCY    ON    THE    SEA-SHORE. 

As  he  came  up,  Marielle  was  afraid  that  he 
would  laugh  at  them  for  being  afraid  of  the  cows ; 
but  he  did  not.  On  the  contrary,  he  looked  very 
sober.  He  was  pale,  and  Marielle  thought  that 
he  must  be  sick.     He  walked  very  feebly. 

"  Are  you  afraid  of  the  cows,  girls  ? "  said  the 
gentleman. 

"  Yes,  sir,"  said  Lucy ;  "  and  will  you  be  so 
good  as  to  drive  them  away  with  your  cane  ?  " 

"  O,  no,"  said  the  gentleman  ;  "  we'll  let  them 
stay  where  they  are ;  but  I'll  conduct  you  along 
safely,  if  you  will  walk  with  me." 

So  saying,  the  gentleman  turned,  and  began  to 
walk  back  towards  the  shore,  with  the  children 
by  his  side.  He  asked  them  where  they  had 
been,  and  they  told  him  they  had  been  down  on 
the  island  to  draw.  Then  he  wanted  to  see  their 
drawings,  and  they  went  to  the  rocks  on  the  shore, 
where  they  found  a  good  place  to  sit  down,  and 
they  took  out  their  drawings,  and  showed  them  to 
him.     He  said  that  they  were  done  very  well. 

"  And  now,"  said  he,  "  lend  me  your  pencil, 
and  a  piece  of  paper,  and  I'll  draw  you  those 
cows." 

So  Marielle  gave  him  a  pencil  and  a  piece  of 
paper,  and  the  gentleman  went  to  work.  He 
made  a  drawing  of  the  castle  rock  and  the  sandy 


THE    RESCUE.  115 

neck  where  the  cows  were  standing,  and  then 
put  in  the  cows,  one  by  one,  some  on  the  sand 
and  some  in  the  water.  He  made  a  wave  just 
curling  over  upon  the  beach ;  he  also  made  the 
little  boat,  which  had  been  left  upon  the  water, 
and  which  was  just  in  sight  from  where  they 
were  sitting. 

"  And  now,  sir,"  said  Lucy,  "  make  Marielle 
and  me,  trying  to  drive  the  cows  away." 

The  gentleman  complied  with  Lucy's  re- 
quest, and  when  the  picture  was  finished,  he  gave 
it  to  Marielle,  who  said  she  was  going  to  carry  it 
home,  and  show  it  to  her  mother. 

"  Well,  girls,  good-by,"  said  the  gentleman  ; 
"  but  I  wish  you  would  come  here  again  to-mor- 
row. I  walk  out  here  every  afternoon,  when  it  is 
pleasant ;  and  1  wish  you  would  come  and  keep 
me  company." 

"  Yes,  sir,"  said  Lucy,  "  we  will." 

"  Yes,"  added  Marielle,  "  if  my  mother  is 
willing." 

"  That's  right,"  said  the  gentleman ;  "  I  will 
send  her  my  card." 

So  he  took  out  his  card,  and  wrote  something 
on  the  back  of  it,  and  then,  enveloping  it  in  a 
piece  of  Marielle's  drawing-paper,  he  gave  it  to 
Marielle  to  carry  to  her  mother. 


116 


CHAPTER    X. 
BOATING. 

When  Marielle  and  Lucy  reached  home, 
they  told  Lady  Jane  of  the  danger  which  they 
had  been  in,  and  how  they  had  been  fortunately 
rescued  by  the  gentleman  who  happened  to  come 
along  just  at  the  right  time. 

"  Do  you  know  who  it  was  ? "  said  Lady 
Jane. 

"  No,  mother,"  replied  Marielle ;  "  but  he  gave 
me  his  card  for  you." 

So  saying,  Marielle  took  out  the  card,  which 
she  had  put  into  her  little  portfolio  with  her  draw- 
ings. The  card  was  neatly  enveloped  in  white 
paper. 

Lady  Jane  opened  the  envelope,  and  took  out 
the  card.  On  one  side  was  beautifully  printed 
the  name,  "  Mr.  W.  St.  John."  On  the  other 
were  written,  in  pencil,  the  following  words  :  — 

"  Lady  Jane  will  confer  a  great  favor  upon  an 
invalid,  if  she  will  allow  him  the  pleasure  of  the 


BOATING.  117 

children's   company,   occasionally,  in   his   walks 
upon  the  shores." 

Lady  Jane  read  this  request  aloud,  for  tho  chil- 
dren to  hear  it,  and  then  folded  up  the  card  again 
in  its  envelope,  with  a  smile. 

"  What  is  his  name  ?  "  said  Marielle. 

"  Mr.  St.  John,"  replied  her  mother. 

"  Do  you  know  him  ?  "  asked  Marielle. 

"  I've  heard  of  him  before,"  said  Lady  Jane. 

"  Well,  mother,  may  we  go  and  take  a  walk 
with  him  to-morrow  ?  " 

'  Yes,"  said  her  mother. 

"  There's  no  danger  in  our  going  with  him,  is 
there  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

"  No/'  replied  her  mother,  "  no  danger  of  any 
thing  but  of  your  being  troublesome." 

"  O,  we  were  not  troublesome,"  said  Lucy,  "  I 
know.  Only  just  I  asked  him  to  let  me  look  at 
his  gold-headed  cane.  But  I  don't  think  that 
that  troubled  him." 

"  No,"  said  Lady  Jane,  "  I  presume  not ;  and 
you  may  go  to-morrow  afternoon,  and  walk  with 
him,  at  all  events.  So  now  you  may  go  to  your 
room,  and  get  ready  for  tea." 

The  next  day,  the  children  were  quite  desirous 
to  have  the  afternoon  come  when  they  were  to  go 


118  LUCY    ON    THE    SEA-SHORE. 

out  and  meet  Mr.  St.  John.  They  took  a  ride 
in  the  morning  with  their  mother,  and  they 
watched  the  roads  where  they  went,  in  hopes  to 
meet  him.  Rut  he  was  nowhere  to  be  seen. 
They  were  going  to  show  him  to  Lady  Jane,  if 
they  had  met  him  ;  but,  finally,  after  having  passed 
a  number  of  parties  of  gentlemen  and  ladies  riding 
or  walking,  and  no  Mr.  St.  John  appeared,  they 
were  obliged,  very  reluctantly,  to  give  up  the 
hope  of  seeing  him  until  the  afternoon. 

Immediately  after  dinner,  they  took  their  draw- 
ing materials  and  set  off.  When  they  reached 
the  foot  of  the  cliffs,  they  looked  about  for  their 
fuend  ;  but  he  was  nowhere  to  be  seen. 

"  Now  I  think  of  it,"  said  Marielle,  "  it  is  not 
■time  for  him  to  come  yet.  It  was  two  hours  after 
this  time,  when  he  came  yesterday." 

*  It  was  after  we  had  done  drawing  the  boats," 
said  Lucy. 

■"  Yes,"  replied  Marielle.  "  So  now  let  us  sit 
down  on  the  cliffs,  and,  while  we  are  waiting,  we 
can  draw  the  same  picture  that  he  did,  —  all  ex- 
cept the  cows.     I  know  I  can't  draw  the  cows." 

So  the  girls  took  out  their  portfolios,  and  began 
to  draw.  Lucy  was  going  to  finish  the  little  boat 
which  she  had  commenced  the  day  before ;  but, 
on  looking  out  to  the  place;  she  found  that  it  was 


BOATING.  119 

not  there,  but  that  the  vessel,  as  she  called  it, 
had  been  returned  to  its  place,  and  the  boat  was 
gone. 

However,  after  waiting  a  few  minutes,  and 
considering  what  to  do,  she  heard  a  sound  as  of 
oars  again,  and  presently  she  saw  a  boat  coming 
with  two  boys  in  it.  One  of  the  boys  was  row- 
ing. The  other  seemed  to  be  at  work  upon  some- 
thing which  he  had  upon  a  seat  by  his  side.  As 
they  came  near,  she  found  it  was  a  fishing-line. 
Presently  the  other  boy  stopped  rowing,  and  went 
to  the  bows  of  the  boat,  and  threw  out  something 
which  seemed  to  be  like  an  anchor ;  and  then 
they  both  went  to  fishing.  Lucy  immediately 
determined  to  draw  that  boat,  and  one  of  the  boys 
too.  She  said  she  knew  that  she  could  draw 
such  a  boy  as  that,  for  he  was  nothing  but  head 
and  shoulders. 

She  meant  that  there  was  nothing  to  be  seen 
but  head  and  shoulders ;  for,  as  the  boys  were 
fishing  out  of  the  side  of  the  boat  which  was 
farthest  from  the  shore,  and  as  they  leaned  over 
the  side,  they  caused  the  boat  to  tip  somewhat  in 
that  direction,  so  that  only  a  very  small  part  of 
the  boy  could  be  seen,  above  that  edge  of  the 
boat  which  was  turned  towards  them. 

Lucy  went  to  work  to  draw  the  boat,  and  for 


120  LUCY    ON    THE    SEA-SHORE. 

a  quarter  of  an  hour,  she  persevered  very  indus- 
triously and  patiently.  Then,  however,  to  her 
surprise,  she  saw  one  of  the  boys  look  towards  the 
shore,  and  then  he  appeared  to  say  something  to 
the  other  boy  ;  for  he,  too,  looked  up,  and  both  im- 
mediately arose,  drew  in  their  lines,  hauled  up  the 
little  grapnel  which  they  had  used  for  an  anchor, 
put  out  their  oars,  and  began  to  pull  in  towards 
the  shore. 

While  the  girls  were  wondering  what  these 
manoeuvres  could  mean,  Mr.  St.  John  suddenly 
appeared  corning  around  at  the  foot  of  the  cliffs. 
They  were  so  much  interested  in  his  coming, 
that  they  paid  no  further  attention  to  the  boys. 
Lucy  ran  down  to  meet  him,  but  Marielle  re- 
mained where  she  was.  She,  however,  put  up  her 
drawings,  and  rose  from  her  seat  upon  the  rocks. 

"  Well,  girls,"  said  Mr.  St.  John,  "  I  forgot  to 
tell  you  what  time  you  might  expect  me,  and  so 
I  have  come  earlier  than  my  usual  time,  so  as  not 
to  keep  you  waiting.  It  seems  that  your  mother 
vas  willing  to  have  you  come." 

"  Lady  Jane  is  not  my  mother,"  said  Lucy. 

"  Isn't  she  ?  She  must  be  your  aunt,  then,  1 
appose,"  said  Mr.  St.  John. 

"  No,  sir,"  replied  Lucy  ;  "  she  is  not  my  aunt." 

"Well,  at  any  rate,"  replied  Mr.  St.  Joho, 


BOATING.  121 

"she  was  willing  to  have  you  under  my  charge; 
and  now  we  will  go  down  into  this  boat,  and  have 
a  little  sail." 

So  Mr.  St.  John  led  the  way  down  to  the 
beach,  and  the  girls  followed  him.  They  saw 
that  the  boys  had  come  to  the  shore  with  their 
boat,  and  were  sitting  in  it,  looking  towards  Mr. 
St.  John  and  the  girls. 

Lucy  hesitated  about  getting  into  the  boat. 
She  was  a  little  afraid  ;  and  then,  besides,  she  was 
not  quite  sure  that  Lady  Jane  would  be  willing. 

"  Yes,"  said  Marielle,  "  she  said  there  would 
be  no  danger  in  going  any  where  with  Mr.  St. 
John." 

"  Except  that  we  might  be  troublesome,"  said 
Lucy. 

Mr.  St.  John  smiled  a  little  at  this,  and  he  told 
the  girls  that  he  thought  they  need  not  be  afraid 
to  go  with  him.  "  However,"  he  continued,  "we 
had  better  be  sure,  Marielle.  If  you  feel  in  any 
doubt  whether  your  mother  would  be  willing  to 
have  you  go,  you  will  feel  uneasy  all  the  time, 
and  will  not  enjoy  the  sail.  You  had  better  let 
Lucy  go  and  ask  her,  or  else  go'yourself.  It  is 
not  very  far." 

"I'll  go,"  said  Marielle.     "  I  can  go  quicker, 
and  you  may  stay  here,  Lucy." 
11 


122  LUCY    ON    THE    SEA-SHORE. 

So  Marielle  ran  off  along  the  beach  towards 
the  house.  Presently  she  stopped  running,  and 
began  to  walk ;  but  she  walked  very  fast,  and 
Lucy  knew  that  she  would  be  back  again  very 
soon.  While  she  was  gone,  Lucy  began  to  ex- 
amine the  boat.  It  was  a  very  pretty  boat,  and 
very  clean  and  dry  inside.  There  were  two  or 
three  small  seats  near  the  stern,  covered  with 
cushions.  The  boys  sat  near  the  middle  and  for- 
ward part  of  the  boat,  with  the  oars  in  their 
hands.  Lucy  wondered  how  it  happened  that 
Mr.  St.  John  was  going  to  get  into  their  boat, 
and  what  made  them  wait  for  him.  However, 
she  supposed  that,  when  Marielle  came  back,  Mr. 
St.  John  would  ask  the  boys  to  let  him  have  their 
boat,  or,  at  least,  say  something  about  it. 

But  he  did  not.  Marielle  came  back  in  a  few 
minutes. 

"  What  did  she  say  ?  "  said  Lucy,  as  soon  as 
she  got  within  hearing. 

Marielle  did  not  answer,  but  kept  walking  on 
as  fast  as  she  could  come. 

"Yes,  or  no,  Marielle?"  said  Lucy. 

Still  no  answer.  But  when  Marielle  got  near 
enough  to  speak  to  Mr.  St.  John,  she  gave  her 
mother's  answer  to  him,  in  these  words :  — 

"  Mother  wished  me  to  give  you  her  compli 


BOATING.  123 

ments,  sir,  and  say  that  she  is  afraid  you  are  tak- 
ing a  great  deal  of  trouble  to  amuse  us ;  but  she 
is  willing  to  have  us  go  wherever  you  think 
proper." 

"  Yes,  sir,"  said  Lucy,  looking  up  to  Mr. 
St.  John,  greatly  delighted ;  "  that  means  yes. 
Let's  get  right  in." 

But  it  was  not  quite  so  easy  to  get  in  as  Lucy 
had  supposed  ;  for,  although  the  boys  had  brought 
up  the  boat  at  a  place  which  was  sheltered  from 
the  surf,  still  the  water  was  uneasy  and  restless, 
and  the  boys  had  some  difficulty  in  holding  the 
boat  still,  while  Mr.  St.  John  and  the  children 
got  in.  When  they  were  in,  however,  and  had 
got  off  a  little  way  from  the  shore,  there  was 
scarcely  any  motion  to  the  boat ;  but  it  glided 
over  the  water  very  smoothly  and  beautifully. 
The  boys  rowed,  and  Mr.  St.  John  steered. 

The  boat,  as  it  went  out,  was  moving  along 
towards  the  sail-boat,  which  Marielle  had  attempt- 
ed to  draw  the  day  before.  Mr.  St.  John  asked 
Lucy  if  she  should  not  like  to  look  into  it.  Lucy 
of  course  said  that  she  should,  and  Mr.  St.  John 
steered  his  boat  close  to  the  side  of  it.  One  of 
the  boys  had  to  take  in  his  oar,  when  they  got 
pretty  near,  to  keep  it  from  striking  the  sail-boat. 
They  found  that  the  sail -boat  was  much  larger 


124  LUCY    ON    THE    SEA-SHORE. 

than  the  one  which  they  were  in.  Mr.  St.  John 
pointed  out  to  them  the  various  parts,  and  ex- 
plained their  construction  and  uses ;  and  then 
he  passed  on.  He  steered  around  the  castle 
rock,  and  then  turned  in  towards  the  shore  again 
on  the  other  side.  Here  there  was  a  long,  sandy 
beach,  under  the  cliffs,  which  extended  down  to- 
wards the  lighthouse ;  and  Mr.  St.  John  steered 
the  boat  so  that  it  glided  along  at  a  short  distance 
from  this  beach,  so  that  the  girls  could  see  the  rocks, 
and  the  sand  below  them,  and  the  rolling  surf 
which' washed  upon  it  with  its  ceaseless  motion. 

Lucy  watched  the  shore  for  some  time,  and 
then  she  began  to  look  at  the  boys  who  were 
rowing.  Each  oar  rested  upon  the  side  of  the 
boat,  between  two  pins,  about  as  large  as  a  man's 
ringer,  which  were  fastened  into  the  edge  of  the 
boat  at  a  proper  place,  and  at  such  a  distance 
apart  as  just  to  allow  the  oar  to  play  loosely 
between  them. 

"  I  saw  those  pegs,"  said  Lucy,"  when  I  was 
drawing  my  boat,  but  I  did  not  know  what  they 
were  for." 

"  They  are  to  keep  the  oar  in  its  place,"  said 
Mr.  St.  John,  "  when  rowing." 

"  What  do  they  call  them  ?  "  asked  Marielle. 

"  Thole-pins,"  replied  Mr.  St.  John. 


BOATING.  125 

"  I  made  my  thole-pins  too  far  apart,"  said 
Marielle,  "  if  that's  what  they're  for." 

"  Let  me  look  at  your  drawing,"  said  Mr.  St. 
John,  "  and  see." 

So  Marielle  and  Lucy  both  took  out  their 
drawings,  and  showed  them  to  Mr.  St.  John. 
Lucy  had  not  made  any  thole-pins  in  her  boat, 
but  Marielle  had  made  them,  though  she  had 
made  them  altogether  too  far  apart.  There  was 
room  enough  to  put  two  or  three  oars  between 
them. 

"  So  you  see,"  said  Mr.  St.  John,  "  that  it  is 
necessary  to  understand  the  construction  of  the 
thing  you  are  going  to  draw,  and  the  uses  of  the 
parts,  in  order  to  draw  it  well." 

"  Yes,  sir,"  said  Marielle ;  "  only  if  I  knew  how 
to  draw  well  enough  to  copy  the  thing  exactly, 
then  it  would  not  be  necessary." 

"  True,"  said  Mr.  St.  John  ;  "  but  that  is  not 
possible.  Besides,  exactness  is  not  necessary  in 
all  respects.  There  are  certain  points  where  it  is 
necessary  to  be  exact.  There  are  others  where  it 
is  not  necessary.  And  if  you  know  the  construc- 
tion and  use  of  the  thing  which  you  are  drawing, 
your  knowledge  will  guide  you. 

"  For  example,"  continued  Mr.  St.  John,  "  take 
the  thole-pins.  It  is  essential  that  they  should 
11  * 


126  LUCY    ON    THE    SEA-SHORE. 

be  about  as  far  apart  as  the  thickness  of  an  oar 
But  it  is  not  essential  precisely  in  what  part  of  tht. 
side  of  the  boat  they  are.  They  may  be  a  little 
farther  this  way,  or  that,  without  being  wrong.  So, 
if  you  are  making  a  mast,  it  must  be  farther  forward 
than  the  middle  of  the  boat,  for  masts  must  always 
be  made  so.  But  if  you  were  making  a  man 
in  a  boat,  it  would  be  of  no  consequence  whether 
you  placed  him  nearer  the  bows,  or  nearer  the  stem. 

"  It  is  so  with  all  other  kinds  of  objects,"  con- 
tinued Mr.  St.  John.  "  Unless  you  know  the 
nature  and  uses  of  the  parts,  it  is  almost  impos- 
sible to  draw  them  correctly ;  and,  even  if  it  were 
possible,  it  would  require  altogether  more  labor 
and  care  to  do  it,  than  if  you  understood  your 
object  fully." 

"  I  don't  know  exactly  what  you  mean,  sir," 
said  Lucy. 

"  Why,  suppose  that  you  were  drawing  a  horse," 
he  replied,  "  and  there  is  a  man  upon  him  holding 
the  bridle  in  one  hand,  and  a  little  whip  in  the 
other.  Now,  the  lines  to  represent  the  bridle 
must  go  down  to  the  horse's  mouth  exactly,  for  a 
bridle  is  always  fastened  to  a  bit,  and  the  bit  is 
in  the  horse's  mouth.  Therefore,  though  you 
may  make  the  bridle  hang  in  almost  any  line,  as 
you  please,  still  it  must  end  exactly  at  the  horse's 


BOATING.  127 

mouth.     The  termination  of  the  lines,  therefore, 
which   are  meant  for  the  bridle,  is    one   of  the 
things   which   are   essential.     But  then,   on    the 
other  hand,  the  line  which   represents  the  whip 
lash,  may  end  any  where." 

"  Yes,  sir,"  said  Lucy. 

"  Now,"  continued  Mr.  St.  John,  "  suppose 
that  you  were  going  to  copy  a  drawing  of  a  man 
on  horseback,  and  had  never  seen  a  horse,  and 
did  not  know  what  the  bridle  was  for,  or  the  whip ; 
and  suppose  it  happened  that,  in  the  drawing, 
the  man  on  the  horse  was  holding  the  whip  out 
in  such  a  position  that  the  lash  of  it  came  just 
opposite  to  the  horse's  ear ;  —  now,  you  would  ob- 
serve, undoubtedly,  that  the  end  of  the  lash  seemed 
to  touch  the  horse's  ear,  and  the  end  of  the  reins 
his  mouth,  but  you  would  not  know  which  was 
essential,  and  which  only  accidental ;  and  so  you 
would  have  to  take  just  as  much  pains  with  one, 
as  with  the  other.  But  if  you  understood  the 
nature  and  use  of  all  the  parts,  then  you  would 
bring  the  lines  for  the  bridle  down  to  the  horse's 
mouth,  exactly ;  and  as  to  the  whip,  you  would 
be  satisfied  with  having  it  in  somewhat  the  same 
position  that  it  was  in  the  original,  without  at- 
tempting to  bring  the  end  of  the  lash  exactly 
opposite  to  the  ear." 


128  LUCY    ON    THE    SEA-SHORE. 

"  I  should  think  she  might  make  it  exact,  almost 
as  easily,"  said  Marielle. 

"  Yes,  in  that  case  you  might,"  replied  Mr. 
St.  John.  "I  took  a  very  simple  case  to  explain 
it  to  Lucy.  But  when  you  come  to  apply  the 
principle  to  all  the  parts  of  a  complicated  object, 
it  makes  a  great  deal  of  difference  whether  you 
understand  it  or  not,  in  respect  to  the  ease  and 
accuracy  of  your  drawing  of  it.  A  person  can- 
not draw  machinery  well,  unless  he  understands 
machinery  ;  nor  ships,  unless  he  understands  some- 
thing about  the  rigging.  Therefore,  if  you  and 
Lucy  want  to  learn  to  draw  well,  you  must 
learn  all  you  can  about  the  construction  and  use 
of  every  thing  you  see,  —  at  least  of  every  thing 
which  you  ever  expect  to  have  to  draw." 


129 


CHAPTER    XI. 

THE   LIGHTHOUSE. 

After  a  time,  our  party  began  to  approach 
towards  the  lighthouse.  Lucy  said  that  she  was 
glad  that  they  were  going  to  the  lighthouse,  for  it 
was  very  pleasant  there.  Besides,  she  could  see 
very  far  out  to  sea  from  the  rocks  near  the  light- 
house. She,  however,  asked  Mr.  St.  John  if  he 
knew  where  there  was  a  good  place  to  find  some 
shells. 

"  I  promised  Royal  some  shells,"  said  she, 
'{ and  now  I  can't  find  any." 

"  Have  you  looked  about  upon  the  beach  ? " 
asked  Mr.  St.  John. 

"  Yes,  sir,"  said  Lucy,  "  I've  looked  in  a  great 
many  places,  and  I  can't  find  but  two." 

Lucy  had  found  two  shells,  or  rather  three,  for 
one  of  them,  though  it  seemed  to  be  a  sort  of  a 
shell,  was  very  different  from  any  others  which 
she  had  ever  seen.  It  was  almost  round,  like  a 
ball,  only  one  side  was  somewhat  flattened,  and 
in  the  flattened  side  there  was  a  round  hole,  so 


130  LUCY    ON   THE    SEA-SHORE. 

that  she  could  see  inside.  It  was  hollow.  The 
shell  was  white,  and  pricked  all  over  the  surface, 
as  Lucy  said,  with  fine  holes  arranged  in  very 
regular  forms.     Lucy  said  it  looked  like  muslin. 

Just  as  Lucy  had  finished  telling  Mr.  St.  John 
about  her  shells,  she  observed  that  the  lighthouse 
and  the  land  suddenly  began  to  sail  away  very 
fast,  sweeping  around  in  a  very  extraordinary 
manner.  The  lighthouse  island  had  been  before 
them,  but  in  two  minutes  it  had  got  round  almost 
behind  them.  Lucy  was  astonished.  It  seemed 
as  if  the  land  had  really  sailed  away,  though  she 
knew,  as  soon  as  she  reflected  a  moment  upon  it, 
that  the  land  could  not  sail  away.  On  looking 
around  her  attentively  a  moment,  she  observed 
that  the  boat  had  turned,  and,  instead  of  being 
pointed  towards  the  lighthouse,  it  was  moving 
directly  towards  a  large  island  which  lay  off  the 
shore. 

"  There  is  a  beach  on  the  outside  of  this  island," 
said  Mr.  St.  John  ;  "  we'll  go  and  see  if  there 
are  any  shells  there." 

The  island  was  long  and  narrow,  and  it  lay 
parallel  to  the  shore.  On  the  outside  was  a  long, 
sandy  beach.  Mr.  St.  John  landed  the  children 
near  the  end  of  the  island,  on  the  back  side,  where 
they  were  sheltered  from  the  swell  of  the  sea ;  and 


THE    LIGHTHOUSE.  131 

then  they  walked  over  the  rocks  to  the  front 
side. 

The  attention  of  the  children  was  first  attracted 
to  the  magnificent  line  of  surf  which  fringed  the 
beach.  A  long  wave  would  roll  in,  swell  higher 
and  higher  as  it  approached  the  sand,  until  its  crest 
would  curl  beautifully  over  in  one  long  line  ;  and, 
as  it  advanced  still  farther,  this  would  break  into 
a  roll  of  foam,  extending  along  the  beach  from 
end  to  end.  As  the  foam  subsided,  a  thin  sheet 
of  water  issued  from  it,  and  glided  swiftly  away 
up  the  sand.  When  its  force  was  spent,  it  would 
run  back  again  as  fast  as  it  came,  until  it  met 
another  wave  coming  up,  swelling  like  the  other, 
and  curling  over,  just  ready  to  break  into  foam. 

Lucy  had  seen  the  surf  break  in  upon  the  shore 
before  ;  but  it  was  more  beautiful  in  this  place  than 
any  other.  She  watched  it  for  some  time  before 
she  began  to  look  for  shells.  Then  they  walked 
about  upon  the  sand,  above  the  reach  of  the  waves  ; 
and  both  she  and  Marielle  had  much  better  success 
than  they  had  had  before.  They  found  four  or 
five  shells  that  were  whole,  and  which  were  quite 
curious.  They  also  found  a  great  many  broken 
ones  ;  but  these  they  threw  away.  Mr.  St.  John 
^aid  that  they  had  got  broken  by  the  force  of 
the  waves. 


132  LUCY    ON    THE    SEA-SHORE. 

Then  they  went  back  to  their  boat,  and  tho 
boys  rowed  them  across  the  water  towards  the 
lighthouse.  The  lighthouse,  as  has  already  been 
mentioned,  was  upon  a  little  island  connected 
with  the  main  land  by  a  low  tongue  of  sand. 
The  landing-place  for  boats  was  round  on  the 
farther  side  from  where  they  were  coming  in  the 
boat,  so  that  they  had  to  go  entirely  around  it. 
The  front  part  of  the  island  was  rocky.  It 
would  have  been  difficult  to  land  here,  as  it  was 
exposed  to  the  swell  of  the  sea,  and  the  surf 
broke  upon  it  with  great  force.  At  this  time, 
indeed,  it  was  comparatively  very  calm  on  the 
water,  so  that  there  was  very  little  swell.  Still 
it  would  have  been  somewhat  dangerous  to  have 
attempted  to  land  there ;  and  Mr.  St.  John  steered 
round,  entirely  outside  of  the  rocks,  where  the 
water  was  very  smooth.  As  they  passed  around, 
the  girls  had  beautiful  views  of  the  lighthouse,  on 
every  side  of  it.  Marielle  said  that  she  thought 
it  would  be  a  very  good  drawing-lesson. 

"Yes,"  said  Mr.  St.  John,  "you  might  sit 
here  in  the  boat  and  draw  it." 

"  Well,  sir,"  said  Lucy,  "  I  should  like  a 
picture  of  a  lighthouse  which  was  made  in  a 
boat." 


THE    LIGHTHOUSE.  133 

"  We'll  go  on  a  little  way,"  said  Mr.  St.  John, 
w  till  we  find  the  best  point  of  view." 

So  they  went  on.  As  they  gradually  rounded 
the  island,  and  came  towards  the  landing-place, 
they  saw  a  small  boat,  about  as  large  as  their 
own,  just  issuing  from  the  little  cove  in  which 
the  landing-place  was  situated.  There  was  a 
man  in  the  boat. 

"  Who's  that  coming  away  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

"  That's  the  lighthouse-keeper,"  replied  Ma 
rielle. 

He  was  sitting  in  the  middle  of  his  boat,  work- 
ing both  the  oars  himself.  In  their  own  boat, 
one  boy  worked  one  oar,  and  the  other  the  other, 
and  Mr.  St.  John  sat  in  the  stern,  to  steer.  But 
the  lighthouse-keeper  worked  both  of  his  oars, 
and  there  appeared  to  be  nobody  to  steer.  He 
sat  with  his  back  to  the  bows  of  the  boat,  and 
the  handles  of  the  oars  crossed  each  other  be- 
fore him. 

"  I  don't  see  how  he  can  tell  when  he  is  going 
on  to  the  rocks,"  said  Lucy. 

"  Or  how  he  can  steer  away  when  he  knows 
that  he  is  going  on,"  said  Marielle. 

Just  then  they  saw  that  the  lighthouse-keeper's 
boat  had  got  out  of  the  cove  so  far  as  to  clear  a 
point  of  land  which  formed  one  of  the  boundaries 
12 


134  LUCY    ON    THE    SEA-SHORE. 

of  it,  on  the  side  where  the  boat  of  Mr.  St.  John 
was  coming.  The  girls  saw  him  look  over  his 
shoulder  at  this  point  of  land.  Then  he  stopped 
rowing  with  the  oar  on  one  side,  that  is,  on  the 
side  towards  the  point  of  land,  and  continued  to 
row  with  the  other.  The  girls  saw  that  by  this 
means  he  pulled  his  boat  around  the  point,  and 
then  watched  it  over  his  shoulder.  He  passed 
along  close  to  it,  and  so  came  on  directly  towards 
them. 

The  two  boats  passed  very  near  each  other. 
The  lighthouse-keeper  rested  on  his  oars  a  mo- 
ment as  he  passed,  and,  holding  both  the  han- 
dles of  them  in  one  hand,  he  touched  his  cap  to 
Mr.  St.  John  and  the  young  ladies  with  the  other. 

"  Pleasant  afternoon,  sir,"  said  Mr.  St.  John. 

"  Yes,  sir,"  said  the  lighthouse-keeper ;  "  the 
water  is  as  smooth  as  a  pond." 

"  All  excepting  just  along  the  shore,"  said 
Lucy  to  Marielle,  in  a  low  voice. 

The  lighthouse-keeper  put  his  strength  to  his 
oars  again,  and  was  soon  beyond  hearing. 

Mr.  St.  John  went  on  a  short  distance  farther, 
and  then  the  rocks  opened  in  such  a  way  that 
they  had  a  fine  view  of  the  lighthouse,  and  the 
dwelling-house  at  the  foot  of  it,  with  the  rocks 
and  trees  around ;  and  Mr.  St.  John  said  that  it 


THE    LIGHTHOUSE.  135 

would  be  an  excellent  point  of  view.  The  light- 
house-keeper's wife  was  sitting  under  the  porch, 
on  a  bench,  knitting.  Lucy  said  she  meant  to 
put  her  into  her  picture. 

They  took  out  their  drawing  materials,  and  con- 
tinued drawing  here  for  half  an  hour.  Mr.  St. 
John  sat  between  Lucy  and  Marielle,  and  gave 
them  his  advice  and  direction.  He  took  Lucy's 
pencil  very  often,  and  helped  her.  Marielle  looked 
over,  and,  by  seeing  him  draw  Lucy's  picture, 
she  learned  how  to  draw  her  own.  Thus  they 
were  going  on  very  well,  until,  at  length,  Lucy's 
was  nearly  finished,  and  Marielle's  about  half 
done  ;  for,  as  Lucy  herself  did  very  little  to  hers, 
and  Mr.  St.  John  nearly  the  whole,  it  advanced 
faster  than  Marielle's. 

At  length,  Lucy  began  to  be  tired  of  drawing 
there ;  and,  besides,  she  recollected  that  she 
wanted  a  drink  of  water. 

"  Then,"  said  Mr.  St.  John,  "  we  will  put  you 
ashore,  and  you  can  go  up  to  the  lighthouse,  and 
ask  the  woman  for  a  drink  of  water,  while  Mari- 
elle finishes  her  drawing ;  and  I  will  finish  yours 
while  you  are  gone." 

"  Well,  sir,"  said  Lucy. 

So  Marielle  stopped  drawing,  and  the  Doys  put 


136  LUCY    ON    THE    SEA-SHORE. 

out  their  oars,  and  rowed  towards  the  shore. 
They  landed  Lucy  in  the  cove,  on  a  little  sandy 
landing-place,  and  then  they  went  back  again  to 
their  station,  while  Lucy  climbed  up  to  the  grass 
ground  above  the  rocks,  and  made  her  way  to- 
wards the  house,singing. 

"  Who's  coming  there  ? "  said  old  Mrs.  Star 
as  Lucy  approached.     "  Is  that  you,  Lucy  ? " 

"  Yes,  ma'am,"  said  Lucy. 

"  Where's  your  mother  ?  "  said  the  woman. 

"  Mother  isn't  here.  I  came  in  a  boat,"  said 
Lucy.     "  We've  been  drawing  you." 

"  Drawing  me !  child  ?  What  do  you  mean  by 
that  ? " 

"  Why,  we're  making  a  picture  of  the  light- 
house, and  of  your  house,  and  of  you  sitting  at 
the  door,  knitting." 

The  old  lady  smiled,  and  asked  who  were  m 
the  boat ;  and  Lucy  told  her.  She  seemed  to  be 
much  interested  to  hear  about  the  drawing,  and 
said  that  she  wished  she  could  see  the  pictures 
when  they  were  done. 

"  I'm  sorry  you  can't  see,"  said  Lucy.  "  How 
long  nave  you  been  blind  ?  " 

"  Four  or  five  years,"  said  the  woman. 

"  Can't  you  see  at  all  ? "  asked  Lucy 


THE    LIGHTHOUSE.  137 

"  No,"  replied  the  woman,  "  only  just  to  tell 
day  from  night.  I  can  tell  when  the  sun  shines, 
and  when  it  is  cloudy." 

Here  there  was  a  pause.  Lucy  looked  at  the 
woman  with  a  countenance  of  concern,  and  then 
said,  — 

"  I  should  think  you  had  hetter  get  some 
spectacles." 

"  Dear  soul,"  said  the  woman,  "  spectacles 
wouldn't  do  me  any  good." 

"  Why,  did  you  ever  try  them  ? "  said  Lucy. 

"  No,"  said  the  woman. 

"  Then  you  can't  be  sure,"  said  Lucy,  "  un- 
less you  have  tried." 

'  Why,  child,"  said  the  woman,  "  spectacles 
are  good  for  the  sight ;  but  they  won't  help  eyes 
that  haven't  got  any  sight  in  them  at  all." 

"I  mean  to  ask  Lady  Jane  to  lend  me  hers, 
the  next  time  I  come  down,  and  let  you  try," 
said  Lucy.     "  It  will  not  do  any  harm  to  try." 

"  No,  no,  child !  nonsense,"  said  Mrs.  Star. 
"  But  I'll  tell  you  what  to  do.     Can  you  read  ?  " 

"  Yes,  ma'am,"  said  Lucy. 

"  Then  bring  down  one  of  your  little  story- 
books, and  read  me  a  story." 

"  Well,"  said  Lucy,  "  I  will.  We've  got  some 
12* 


138  LUCY    ON    THE    SEA-SHORE. 

books ;  only  they're  Marielle's ;  but  she  will  let 
me  bring  one  down,  I  know." 

"Where  is  Marielle  ?  "  said  the  woman. 

"O,  she's  out  in  the  boat,"  replied  Lucy, 
"  finishing  her  drawing." 

"  What  made  you  come  ashore  without  her  ?  " 
said  the  woman. 

"  Why,  I  wanted  some  water  to  drink.  Have 
you  got  any  water  in  your  house  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  the  woman  ;  "  I'll  give  you  some 
water  ;  but  you  must  go  and  get  it  yourself." 

"  Where  is  the  water  ? "  asked  Lucy. 

"  It  is  down  cellar,"  said  the  woman,  <c  in  a 
barrel." 

"  In  a  barrel  ? "  repeated  Lucy. 

"  Yes,"  said  the  woman  ;  "  go  into  the  house, 
and  look  on  the  dresser." 

"  The  dresser  ? "  said  Lucy.  "  What  is  a 
dresser  ?  " 

"  Why,  don't  you  know  what  a  dresser  is, 
child  ?  It  is  the  shelves  where  I  keep  my  dishes. 
The  dresser  is  at  the  back  side  of  the  kitchen. 
Look  on  the  second  shelf,  by  the  window,  and 
you'll  find  a  mug.  It's  next  to  my  wooden 
bowl.  Then  you  must  open  the  door  by  the  side 
of  the  fireplace,  and  you'll  see  the  cellar  stairs. 
Right  at  the  foot  of  the  stairs  you'll  see  a  barrel 


THE    LIGHTHOUSE.  141 

painted  red,  with  a  plug  in  the  end  of  it.  You 
must  pull  out  the  plug ;  then  the  water  will  run. 
You  can  hold  your  mug  under,  and  catch  as  much 
as  you  want,  and  then  put  in  the  plug  again." 

Lucy,  having  received  these  directions,  went 
timidly  into  the  house.  She  felt  somewhat  un- 
certain how  she  should  accomplish  so  delicate  an 
operation  ;  and,  if  the  old  lady  had  not  been  blind, 
she  would  have  asked  her  to  go  down  and  get  the 
water  for  her.  But,  as  she  was  so  blind,  she 
thought  she  might  fall  down  the  cellar  stairs  ;  and 
so  she  concluded  that  it  was  better  for  her  to  go 
herself.  She  accordingly  went  in,  while  the  wo- 
man remained  at  her  place  knitting,  and  listening 
to  Lucy's  footsteps. 

She  heard  her  go  to  the  dresser,  and  take  the 
mug,  and  then  open  the  cellar  door.  She  heard 
her  footsteps  distinctly,  as  she  slowly  and  cau- 
tiously went  down,  one  step  after  another,  until  she 
reached  the  foot  of  the  stairs.  Then  there  was  a 
long  pause. 

"  Can't  you  get  the  plug  out  ? "  asked  the  old 
woman,  in  a  loud  voice. 

There  was  no  answer.  Perhaps  Lucy  did 
not  hear. 

"  Work  it  a  little  back  and  forth,  and  then  it 
will  come  out,"  said  the  blind  woman. 


142  LUCY    ON    THE    SEA-SHORE. 

Here  tliere  was  another  pause ;  and  then  pretty 
soon  she  thought  she  heard  the  running  of  the 
water  into  the  mug ;  but  just  as  she  was  beginning 
to  think  that  the  sound  continued  rather  too  long, 
she  heard  an  outcry,  in  Lucy's  voice,  coming  up 
from  the  cellar. 

"  O  dear  me !  O  dear  me !  all  your  water  is 
spilling." 

The  old  woman  jumped  up,  went  into  the 
house,  walked  rapidly  across  the  floor  with  her 
arms  extended  before  her,  reached  the  cellar 
stairs,  and  descended,  and  before  Lucy  had  time 
to  think  what  was  to  be  done,  she  took  hold  of 
the  head  of  the  barrel  with  one  hand,  and  put 
the  thumb  of  the  other  hand,  in  an  instant,  over 
the  hole  from  which  the  water  was  issuing.  The 
stream  was  stopped  at  once. 

"Where's  the  plug,  child  ? "  said  the  woman. 

"  Here,"  said  Lucy  ;  and  she  put  the  plug  into 
the  hand  which  the  woman  extended  to  receive 
it.  Mrs.  Star  put  the  plug  into  the  hole,  and 
crowded  it  in  hard. 

"  Have  you  got  enough  in  your  mug? "  said  she. 

"  Yes,  ma'am,"  said  Lucy  ;  "  only  I'm  very 
sorry  I've  spilt  so  much  of  your  water." 

"  O,  that's  no  matter,"  said  she ;  "  there's 
plenty  more." 


THE    LIGHTHOUSE.  143 

"  But  what  do  you  have  your  water  in  a  barrel 
for  ?  "  said  Lucy.  "  Why  don't  you  have  a  well, 
or  a  pump? " 

"  What,  a  well  down  through  these  rocks, 
child  ?  "  said  the  woman. 

She  went  up  stairs,  Lucy  following  her  slowly, 
drinking  by  the  way.  When  she  had  drank  as 
much  water  as  she  wanted,  she  put  the  mug 
down  upon  the  table,  as  the  woman  told  her  to, 
and  then  went  out  upon  the  porch,  and  they 
began  to  talk  together  again. 

"  We  went  out  to  an  island,"  said  Lucy,  "  to 
find  some  shells,  but  we  couldn't  find  many." 

"  No,"  said  the  woman  ;  "  there  are  no  shells 
on  these  coasts.  You  must  go  to  the  East  Indies 
if  you  want  to  find  shells." 

"  Are  there  a  great  many  shells  in  the  East 
Indies  ? "  asked  Lucy. 

"  Yes,"  replied  the  woman  ;  "  I  used  to  have  a 
bag  full,  that  some  sailors  gave  me." 

"What  did  you  do  with  them  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

"  I  don't  know,"  said  the  woman.  "  They 
are  about  the  house  now,  somewhere.  If  I  could 
find  them,  I  would  give  them  to  you." 

"  Well,"  said  Lucy,  "  I  wish  you  could  find 
Ihem." 

"  Let  me  see,"  said  the   woman.     "  Perhaps 


144  LUCY    ON    THE    SEA-SHORE. 

they  are  in  the  back  cupboard,  on  the  upper  shelf. 
I'll  go  and  see." 

So  she  rose,  and  went  out  with  Lucy  into  a 
back  room  where  there  was  a  closet.  She  opened 
the  door,  and  placed  a  chair  there. 

"  Now,  Lucy,  you've  got  eyes ;  so  you  may  get 
up  in  the  chair  and  look." 

Lucy  climbed  up  in  the  chair. 

"  Look  on  the  top  shelf,  farther  end.  What 
do  you  see  ?  " 

"  I  see  a  box,"  said  Lucy. 

"  Yes  ;  now,  what  is  there  besides  the  box  ?  " 

"  There  is  a  tin  pail,"  said  Lucy. 

"  Yes,"  said  the  woman  ;  "  that's  my  old  pail. 
There's  a  hole  in  the  bottom.  Is  there  any  thing 
beyond  the  pail  ?  " 

Lucy  reached  up,  and  moved  the  pail  one  way 
and  the  other ;  but  there  was  nothing  beyond  it. 
On  the  other  end  of  the  shelf  there  were  two  or 
three  bundles  of  herbs,  but  no  bag. 

"Then  they're  lost,"  said  the  woman.  "At 
least,  if  they're  not  on  that  shelf,  I  don't  know 
any  thing  about  them.     Stop,  look  in  the  pail." 

It  was  very  fortunate  that  Mrs.  Star  happened 
to  think  to  ask  Lucy  to  look  in  the  pail ;  for  there 
the  bag  of  shells  was,  safe.  Lucy  pulled  it  out 
by  its  string.  It  was  pretty  large ;  as  large  as  a 
work-ban. 


THE    LIGHTHOUSE.  145 

Lucy  got  down  upon  the  floor,  and,  resting  the 
bag  upon  the  chair  where  she  had  been  standing, 
she  pulled  the  mouth  of  it  open,  and  looked  in. 

"  O,  what  beautiful  shells  !  "  said  she.  "  Let 
me  pour  them  all  out  upon  the  table." 

"  No,"  said  Mrs.  Star ;  "  you  can  look  at  them 
after  you  get  home.  They  are  for  you  and  your 
brother  Royal  together." 

"Well,"  said  Lucy.  So  she  thanked  Mrs. 
Star  for  the  shells,  and  bade  her  good  afternoon, 
and  then  ran  along  down  to  the  shore.  They 
came  in  for  her,  with  the  boat.  She  told  them 
the  story  of  the  shells,  and  they  showed  her  their 
drawings.  Lucy  was  very  much  pleased  with 
hers.  Mr.  St.  John  had  finished  it  in  a  very  beau- 
tiful manner.  He  had  not  only  drawn  the  old 
lady  sitting  in  the  porch,  but  Lucy  herself  also, 
standing  by  her  side,  talking  with  her.  Lucy 
saia  that  she  was  very  much  pleased  with  her 
picture,  and  that  she  was  very  much  obliged  to 
Mr.  St.  John  for  helping  her  make  it.  And  then 
they  put  up  all  the  papers,  and  the  boys  rowed 
them  home. 

13 


U6 


CHAPTER    XII. 
GOING  TO  TOWN. 

Lady  Jane  often  sent  to  the  city,  while  she 
was  at  the  sea-shore  ;  and  the  day  after  Marielle 
and  Lucy  took  their  excursion  with  Mr.  St.  John, 
she  went  herself.  When  she  came  back,  the 
first  question  which  Marielle  asked  was,  how 
Willie  did.  Her  mother  told  her  that  he  was  a 
great  deal  better,  and  that  in  a  day  or  two  she 
was  going  to  send  Parker  in  the  carriage  to  bring 
him  and  his  mother  to  the  sea-shore. 

"  Are  they  coming  to  this  very  house  ?  "  asked 
Lucy. 

"  Yes,"  said  Lady  Jane,  "  and  Parker  is  going 
to  contrive  some  way  to  get  his  little  carriage 
brought  here,  so  that  you  and  Lucy  can  draw  him 
on  the  beach." 

"  Yes,  Lucy,"  said  Marielle,  "  so  we  will. 
And,  mother,"  she  continued,  '  why  can't  Lucy 
and  I  go  with  Parker  when  lie  goes  to  bring 
them  ?    There  will  be  room.     We  can  ride  on  the 


GOING    TO    TOWN.  147 

front  seat,  and  aunt  Mary  and  Willie  on  the  back 
seat." 

"  Very  well,"  replied  her  mother ;  "  I  have  no 
objection." 

The  plan  was  therefore  so  arranged.  Parker 
drove  up  to  the  door  one  pleasant  morning,  im- 
mediately after  breakfast,  and  took  Marielle  and 
Lucy  in.  They  were  very  much  pleased  at  hav- 
ing the  carriage  entirely  by  themselves. 

"  There  is  a  whole  seat  for  each  of  us,"  said 
Marielle. 

"  Yes,"  said  Lucy ;  "  I'll  have  the  front  seat, 
and  you  shall  have  the  back." 

After  riding  in  this  way  a  short  time,  Lucy 
concluded  it  would  be  pleasanter  to  ride  on  the 
back  seat  with  Marielle,  and  so  she  took  her 
place  by  her  side.  Thus  they  could  look  out 
the  window,  and  see  the  country,  and  the  persons 
who  met  them  on  the  road. 

The  horses  trotted  off  very  fast,  and  after  about 
two  hours,  they  began  to  draw  rapidly  near  to  the 
city.  They  reached  it  without  any  accident, 
excepting  that  they  were  delayed  a  few  minutes 
by  a  cause  which  interested  Lucy  very  much. 
Parker  had  stopped  a  moment  to  pay  toll  at  one 
end  of  a  bridge,  though  it  was  not  the  same  bridge 
that  they  had  passed  over  when   they  first  went 


148  LUCY    ON    THE    SEA-SHOUE. 

into  the  city  :  and,  after  going  on  a  few  steps 
he  stopped  again.  Lucy  put  her  head  out  of  the 
window  in  order  to  see  what  was  the  matter. 
She  saw,  to  her  surprise,  a  long  train  of  carriages 
before  them,  extending  a  great  distance  forward, 
on  the  bridge. 

"  Why,"  said  Lucy,  "  we're  in  a  funeral." 
Marielle  looked    out   of  the   window    herself, 
immediately  on  hearing  this  announcement. 

"  No,  indeed,  Lucy,"  said   she ;  "  this  is'nt  a 
funeral ;  only  the  draw  is  up." 

"  The  draw,"  said  Lucy  ;  "  what  is  the  draw  ?  " 
"  Why,  the  place  where  the  vessels  go  through 
the  bridge,"  replied  Marielle.  "  Here  is  a  part 
of  the  bridge,  which  they  hoist  up  when  vessels 
want  to  go  through  ;  and  then  the  carriages  have 
to  wait  until  the  vessel  is  through.  And  they 
are  all  standing  here  in  a  line  waiting." 

Lucy  looked  out  again,  and  she  could  now  see 
that  all  the  vehicles  before  them  were  not  car- 
riages. There  were  wagons,  and  carts,  and 
chaises,  and  one  or  two  men  on  horseback.  She 
saw  now,  plainly,  that  it  could  not  be  a  funeral 
Besides,  she  could  see,  away  before  this  long  row 
of  equipages,  a  part  of  the  bridge  standing  up, 
like  a  wall,  before  them.  It  had  been  raised  into 
a  perpendicular  position,  so  as  to  open  a  space 


UOING    TO    TOWN.  149 

for  the  vessels  to  go  through.  Above  tills  she 
saw  the  mast  and  rigging  of  a  vessel,  which  was 
slowly  gliding  along  through  the  bridge. 

The  carriage  was  very  near  one  side  of  the 
bridge,  and  Lucy  observed  that  all  the  other  car- 
riages and  wagons  before  them  were  also  upon  one 
side.  See  looked  out  of  the  other  window,  and 
saw  that  the  other  side  of  the  road  was  entirely 
unoccupied.  The  children  wondered  why  they 
all  kept  to  one  side  of  the  road  so  much.  While 
they  were  looking  out,  a  chaise,  with  two  gentle- 
men in  it,  came  up  behind  them,  and  stopped, 
and  presently  another  carriage,  with  several  chil- 
dren looking  out  of  the  window  of  it.  Still  they 
all  kept  in  one  half  of  the  road,  and  left  the  other 
half  entirely  empty. 

"  Parker,"  said  Marielle,  "  I  wish  you  would 
turn  out  of  this  row,  and  drive  along  to  the  draw, 
and  let  us  see  the  vessel  sail  through." 

"  It  is  not  allowed,  Miss  Marielle,"  said  Parker. 
"  I  should  be  in  the  way  of  the  other  train." 

Neither  Marielle  nor  Lucy  understood  what 
he  meant  by  the  other  train  ;  but  there  was  so 
much  noise  and  movement  there  that  they  could 
not  talk  very  conveniently,  and  so  they  did  not 
ask  him.  They  therefore  watched  the  mast  and 
rigging  of  the  vessels  as  well  as  they  could  from 
13* 


1-50  LUCY    ON   THE    SEA-SHORE. 

where  they  were.  The  bowsprit  first  came 
through;  then  the  bows  of  the  vessel  appeared 
gliding  slowly  along  ;  then  the  deck,  with  sev 
eral  sailors  upon  it,  pushing  against  the  bridge 
with  poles ;  finally,  the  whole  vessel  came 
through,  and  then  Lucy  expected  to  see  the  part 
of  the  bridge  which  had  been  raised,  fall  down 
with  a  great  noise.  But  it  did  not.  It  began  to 
move  a  little,  and  Lucy  heard  the  rattling  of  a 
chain.  It  continued  to  descend  slowly,  till  it 
reached  its  place ;  and  Lucy  saw  another  part  of 
the  bridge,  on  the  other  side  of  the  opening, 
which  had  also  been  raised,  and  which  now 
descended  at  the  same  moment,  to  meet  this  part ; 
and  so  both  came  down  into  their  places  together. 

Just  at  that  moment,  the  long  procession  of 
wagons  and  carriages  began  to  move  on,  and 
Lucy  and  Marielle  saw  that  there  was  another 
just  such  a  train  coming  the  other  way.  Now 
they  saw  what  the  reason  was  that  they  left  one 
half  of  the  bridge  clear,  and  what  Parker  meant 
by  the  other  train.  If  Parker  had  left  the  line,  and 
gone  on  towards  the  draw,  as  Marielle  had  pro- 
posed, they  would  have  been  run  over,  as  Lucy 
said,  by  all  those  carriages. 

Parker  had  to  go  slowly  for  a  few  minutes,  for 
those  before  him  went  slowly.     Lucy  and  Mari 


GOING    TO    TOWN.  151 

elle  were  both  glad,  for  they  could  see  the  train 
which  was  passing  them.  First  came  a  stage- 
coach, with  several  men  mounted  upon  the  top, 
behind  the  driver,  and  a  large  number  of  trunks 
piled  up  on  a  rack  behind ;  next  came  a  car- 
riage with  two  ladies  in  it,  going  to  take  a  ride  in 
the  country ;  next,  a  gentleman  in  a  chaise ;  and 
then  a  great  wagon,  heaped  up  very  high  with 
boxes  and  bales  of  cotton ;  then  a  cart  loaded 
with  coal,  and  another  empty  cart,  with  a  man 
and  a  boy  sitting  upon  a  board  placed  across  it, 
from  one  side  to  the  other;  finally,  there  came 
a  chaise,  with  the  top  down,  and  a  lady  and  gen- 
tleman in  it,  drawn  by  a  gay-looking  horse. 
This  was  the  end  of  the  train.  A  few  minutes 
afterwards,  Parker  drove  off  the  bridge,  and  the 
carts  and  carriages  scattered  in  all  directions  over 
the  city.  In  about  ten  minutes,  they  stopped  at 
the  door  of  the  house  where  Willie  lived. 

As  the  carriage  stopped,  they  saw  Willie  at  the 
front  window.  He  clapped  his  hands,  and  called 
out,  — 

"  Here  they  come,  mother  !  here  they  come  !  " 

At  this  moment,  Washington  opened  the  door, 

and  received  Marielle  and  Lucy  with  a  smiling 

face  and  many  polite  bows.     They  went  in,  and 

found  Willie  very  much  better  than  he  was  when 


152  LUCY    ON    THE    SEA-SHORE. 

they  left  him.  He  was  much  pleased  with  the 
idea  of  going  to  the  sea-shore  ;  and  the  first  thing 
he  said  was,  that  his  carriage  was  going  to  be 
taken  down,  and  he  wanted  to  know  if  Marielle 
and  Lucy  would  give  him  a  ride  on  the  beach 
when  they  got  there. 

"  Yes,"  said  Lucy,  "  we'll  draw  you  down  to 
the  lighthouse.  It  is  a  beautiful  place,  at  the 
lighthouse,  —  and  Mrs.  Star  will  be  very  glad  to 
see  you,  I  know.  Only,"  added  Lucy,  despond- 
ingly,  after  a  moment's  pause,  "  she  cannot  see  at 
all.  But  she'll  be  glad  to  have  you  come,  I 
know." 

But  Willie  did  not  pay  much  attention  to  this. 
He  went  capering  about  the  room,  and  whipping 
the  carpet  with  a  little  whip  which  he  had  in  his 
hands.  He  played  with  Marielle  and  Lucy  about 
half  an  hour  in  the  parlor,  and  then  they  all  went 
up  into  the  room  where  they  had  visited  him 
before,  when  he  was  sick.  They  found  that  the 
nurse  had  gone,  and  in  her  stead  was  a  young 
woman  named  Martha,  who  had  the  care  of  Wil- 
liam. Marielle  and  Lucy  played  in  this  room  a 
little  while,  and  then  Martha  told  them  they  had 
better  go  down  into  the  parlor,  because  she  was 
going  to  put  Willie  to  sleep.  His  mother,  sh« 
said,  wished  him  to  go  to  sleep  before  dinner 


GOING    TO    TOWN.  153 

So  Marielle  and  Lucy  went  down  into  the 
parlor,  and  in  a  few  minutes  they  went  from  the 
parlor  into  the  library,  and  began  to  look  at  the 
shells  in  the  drawers  again.  They  had  examined 
all  the  shells  which  Mrs.  Star  had  given  Lucy, 
and  this  had  increased  their  interest  very  much  in 
the  forms  of  shells.  They  wished  to  see  whether 
those  in  the  drawer  were  like  the  ones  in  Lucy's 
bag.  They  found  several  in  the  drawers  which 
were  similar  to  Lucy's,  and  Marielle  said  that 
they  meant  to  go  and  ask  her  aunt  Mary  what 
the  names  of  them  were.  She  went  to  find  her ; 
but  her  aunt  told  her  she  did  not  know  the  names 
of  any  of  the  shells,  and  that  they  were  very  hard 
names  to  learn  and  remember.  Besides,  she  said 
she  could  not  come  then,  as  she  was  busy  making 
preparations  to  go  to  the  sea-shore. 

Parker  had  orders  to  bring  the  carriage  to  the 
door  immediately  after  dinner.  He  was  punctual ; 
for,  when  they  left  the  dinner-table,  and  came  to 
the  window  to  see,  they  found  him  there,  all 
ready.  Washington  was  carrying  out  parcels  of 
various  kinds :  among  other  things,  he  took  out 
a  small,  black  trunk,  and  put  it  under  Parker's 
seat.  There  was  a  basket,  with  a  cloth  over  it, 
which  Marielle.  told  Lucy  was  full  of  oranges. 
She  had  seen  Martha  put  them  up. 


154  LUCY    ON   THE    SEA-SHORE. 

Presently  they  all  got  into  the  carriage.  Martha 
got  in  too,  as  she  was  going  in  order  to  take  care 
of  Willie.  She  sat  on  the  front  seat,  in  one 
corner,  and  held  Willie  in  her  lap,  so  that  he 
could  see  out  of  the  window.  Marielle  and  Lucy 
tried  to  explain  to  him  about  the  lighthouse,  and 
Mrs.  Star ;  but  he  was  too  young  to  understand 
much  about  it,  and  he  did  not  pay  much  atten- 
tion. He  preferred  looking  out  of  the  \undow, 
and  he  called  upon  Marielle  to  admire  every 
thing  he  saw.  He  had  been  shut  up  in  his  sick 
room  a  long  time,  and  now  he  was  delighted  to 
get  out  again,  where  he  could  feel  the  fresh  air, 
and  see  the  various  objects  which  attracted  his 
attention,  as  they  rode  along  out  of  the  city. 

"  Aunt,"  said  Marielle,  "  I  wish  you  would  go 
down  to  the  lighthouse  with  us,  and  let  us  draw 
Willie  there  in  his  carriage." 

"  How  far  is  it  ? "  said  her  aunt. 

"  Only  about  a  mile,"  said  Marielle. 

"  O,  that's  too  far  for  me  to  walk,"  said  her 
aunt ;  "  but  Martha  may  go  with  you." 

"  Well,  if  she  will,"  said  Lucy.  "  Will  you 
go,  Martha  ? " 

"  Yes,"  said  Martha ;  "I  should  like  to  go 
very  much." 


GOING    TO    TOWN.  155 

"  And  I'll  cany  down  my  book,"  said  Lucy, 
"  and  read  Mrs.  Star  a  story,  as  I  promised  her  I 
would." 

"  Yes,"  said  Marielle,  "  and  carry  back  her 
bag." 

"  Her  bag  ? "  said  Lucy  ;  "  I  think  she  meant 
to  have  me  keep  the  bag." 

"  Did  she  give  it  to  you  ? "  said  Marielle. 

"  Why,  no,"  said  Lucy,  "  not  exactly.  That 
is,  she  didn't  say  any  thing  about  the  bag.  She 
gave  me  the  shells  and  the  bag  all  together." 

"  Then  I  think  you  had  belter  carry  the  bag 
back,"  said  Marielle.     "  Don't  you,  aunt  ?  " 

"  Why,  that  would  be  safer,"  said  her  aunt, 
"  if  Lucy  is  not  sure  that  she  meant  that  she 
should  keep  it." 

"  I  would,"  said  Marielle ;  "  and  then,  Lucy, 
you  can  put  something  in  the  bag,  for  a  present  to 
her  in  return.''' 

"  So  I  can,"  said  Lucy.  "  What  would  you 
put  in  ?  " 

"  I  don't  know.  What  would  you  put  in  it, 
aunt?" 

"  O,  fill  it  with  oranges,"  said  her  aunt. 

"  Only  I  haven't  got  any  oranges,"  said  Lucy. 

"  There  are  plenty  in  a  basket  here,  under  the 


156  LUCY    ON    THE    SEA-SHORE. 

seat,"  replied  she ;  "  you  may  have  some  of  these. 
I  think  the  old  lady  will  like  some  oranges." 

"Well,"  said  Lucy,  "  I  should  like  to  put  in 
some  oranges,  very  much ;  and  I'm  going  to  carry 
down  my  book,  and  read  her  a  story,  too." 

"  Have  you  got  any  book  to  carry  down  ? " 
said  Marielle. 

"  Yes,"  said  Lucy,  "  my  elephant  book.  1 
brought  my  elephant  book  because  I  thought  I 
should  want  to  read  in  it  some  rainy  day ;  and  I'm 
going  to  read  '  Blind  Jack '  to  her,  because  she 
is  blind  herself,  and  I  almost  know  she  will  want 
to  hear  about  Blind  Jack." 

In  this,  and  in  similar  conversation,  the  time 
passed  swiftly  away ;  and  they  reached  the  end 
of  their  journey  in  very  good  season. 


157 

CHAPTER    XIII. 
WILLIES  RIDE. 

A  day  or  two  after  Marielle's  aunt  and  little 
Willie  came  down  to  the  sea-shore,  Marielle  and 
Lucy  were  drawing  Willie  back  and  forth  in  the 
road  before  the  house,  when  Lucy  proposed  that 
they  should  go  that  day  down  to  the  lighthouse. 

"  Well,"  said  Marielle,  "  I'll  go  and  ask  my 
mother." 

"  And  I'll  go  too,"  said  Lucy. 

They  drew  Willie  just  inside  of  the  gate,  where 
he  would  be  safe,  and  told  him  to  wait  a  few 
minutes,  while  they  went  to  ask  his  mother  if  they 
might  take  him  to  ride.  So  Willie  sat  still, 
singing,  and  whipping  the  grass  with  his  little 
whip. 

Marielle  found  her  mother  and  her  aunt  sitting 
under  a  little  piazza  at  the  end  of  the  house, 
where  they  could  enjoy  the  cool  sea  breeze.  She 
made  known  her  proposal,  and  asked  her  moth- 
er's consent  that  she  and  Lucy  might  go,  and  her 
aunt's,  to  allow  them  to  take  Willie  in  his  carriage. 

"  And  we  want  to  take  something  to  eat,  and 
14 


158  LUCY    ON    THE    SEA-SHORE. 

put  it  in  the  front  of  the  wagon,  and  so  not  come 
home  to  dinner,"  said  Marielle. 

"  How  far  is  it  ?  "  asked  her  aunt. 

"  It  is  about  a  mile,"  said  Lady  Jane.  "  It 
will  be  safe,  if  Martha  goes  with  them,  —  will  it 
not?" 

"  Yes,"  said  Marielle's  aunt,  "  I  suppose  so. 
What  sort  of  a  place  is  it  down  at  the  lighthouse  ? " 

"  I'll  show  you,"  said  Lucy.  "  I'll  go  and  get 
my  drawing ;  and  then  you  can  see  it  exactly, 
and  Mrs.  Star,  too,  sitting  at  the  door." 

So  Lucy  went  up  stairs  to  get  her  drawing. 
Marielle  followed  her,  to  bring  down  hers,  too. 
They  got  their  drawings,  and  Lucy  brought  down 
her  elephant  book  at  the  same  time.  She  brought 
forward  her  drawing  eagerly,  and  held  it  out  for 
the  ladies  to  see.  Marielle  came  behind  her,  in 
a  more  modest  and  unassuming  manner. 

Her  mother  had  seen  the  drawings  before,  but 
her  aunt  seemed  much  surprised  when  she  looked 
at  Lucy's. 

"  Why,  whose  work  is  this  ?  "  said  she. 

"  Mine,"  said  Lucy ;  "  that's  my  drawing, 
only  Mr.  St.  John  helped  me." 

"  And  he  helped  me  about  mine,  too,"  said 
Marielle. 

"  Yes,"  said  her  aunt.  "  I  understand.  Well, 
they  are  well  drawn,  and  I  think  the  lighthouse 
island  must  be  a  pleasant  place.  I  should  like  to 
go  there  myself  some  day." 

"  I'm  going  to  carry  down  my  elephant  book," 
said  Lucy,  "  and  read  a  story  to  Mrs.  Star." 


Willie's  ride.  159 

"  And  the  bag  of  oranges,"  said  Marielle. 
"  Aunt  is  going  to  give  us  some  oranges,"  she 
continued,  speaking  to  her  mother,  "  to  put  in 
the  bag  which  Lucy's  shells  came  in." 

"  But  let  me  see,"  replied  her  mother ;  "  is 
that  best  ?  She  gave  them  to  Lucy  as  a  present. 
Now,  if  you  carry  a  bag  back  full  of  oranges,  it  will 
look  a  little  like  paying  her.  I  think  I  wouldn't. 
I  would  return  the  bag  empty,  and  thus  let  her 
have  the  satisfaction  of  doing  you  a  favor." 

Lucy  and  Marielle  looked  at  each  other  a 
moment,  as  if  in  uncertainty.  At  length,  Lucy 
said,  — 

"  But  I  want  to  give  her  some  oranges  very 
much." 

"  Very  well,"  said  Lady  Jane ;  "  there  will  be 
no  harm,  particularly,  in  it ;  though  I  thought 
that,  on  the  whole,  I  should  prefer  giving  them  to 
her  in  some  other  way,  or  at  some  other  time." 

"Well,"  said  Marielle,  "let  us  give  her  the 
oranges  some  other  way.  We  can  think  of  some 
other  way  ;  and,  at  any  rate,  we  may  go?"  she 
added,  inquiringly. 

"  Yes,"  said  her  mother,  "  you  may  go  if  Mar- 
tha is  willing  to  walk  so  far  ;  but  if  she  finds  it  is 
too  far,  then  you  must  turn  round,  and  come  back 
whenever  she  says  it  is  best." 

So  the  girls  went  to  find  Martha,  and  in  a  few 
minutes  they  were  setting  off;  Lucy  and  Mari- 
elle drawing  the  carriage,  with  Willie  upon  the 
seat,  their  luncheon  in  a  large  tin  box,  which, 
together  with  Lucy's  elephant  book,  was  placed 


160  LUCY    ON    THE    SEA-SHORE. 

before  him.  Martha  walked  along  by  the  side  of 
the  wagon.  They  soon  reached  the  beach,  and 
began  to  follow  it  towards  the  lighthouse,  the 
wheels  moving  very  easily  over  the  hard,  smooth 
sand. 

Martha  wanted  to  help  the  children  draw  the 
carriage ;  but  they  were  not  willing.  They 
wanted  to  draw  Willie  themselves  alone.  When 
they  came  opposite  to  the  castle  rock,  they  ex- 
plained to  Martha  how  they  got  imprisoned  there 
one  day  by  the  cows ;  and  they  asked  Martha  if 
she  would  go  out  upon  that  rock  with  them  some 
day.  They  could  not  go  then,  because  they 
wanted  to  make  the  best  of  the  way  to  the  light- 
house. 

When  they  reached  the  island,  they  drew  the 
carriage  up  to  the  door  of  Mr.  Star's  house,  in 
order  to  tell  Mrs.  Star  that  they  had  come,  and  to 
tell  her  about  Willie.  Lucy  and  Marielle  were 
both  very  sorry  that  she  could  not  see  him.  But 
she  said  that  she  was  very  glad  to  have  him  come, 
for  she  should  remember  his  voice  ;  and  that  she 
should  know  him  by  that  whenever  he  came 
again,  although  she  could  not  see  his  face.  Lucy 
told  her,  too,  that  she  had  brought  a  book  to  read 
her  a  story. 

"  And  we  are  eoing  first  along  the  shore,"  said 
Marielle,  "  to  find  a  place  to  eat  our  luncheon, 
and  then  Lucy  is  coming  back  to  read  to  you." 

"  Very  well,"  said  Mrs.  Star ;  "  come  any  time 
when  you  are  ready." 

So  the  children  turned  the  carriage  away,  and 


Willie's  ride.  161 

went  towards  the  shore.  They  found  a  very 
pleasant  place  for  their  luncheon.  It  was  under 
some  shelving  rocks,  which  sheltered  them  from 
the  sun,  but  yet  allowed  them  a  full  prospect  of 
the  sea.  They  found  a  good,  smooth,  flat  stone 
for  a  table,  and  they  spread  their  things  upon  it, 
after  taking  them  out  of  the  tin  box.  There 
were  some  thin  slices  of  bread  and  butter,  some 
little  cakes,  and  an  orange  for  each  of  them. 
They  ate  their  dinner  very  happily,  watching, 
in  the  mean  time,  the  waves,  which  tumbled  and 
dashed  against  the  rocks  at  their  feet. 

When  the  dinner  was  ended,  Lucy  took  her 
book  and  went  to  read  her  story,  while  the  others 
remained  at  the  shore,  intending  to  ramble  about, 
and  pick  up  shells  and  pebbles.  Willie  found 
great  amusement  in  throwing  stones  into  the 
water,  —  little  stones  which  he  picked  up  on  the 
beach.  Now  and  then  a  boat  passed,  going  in  or 
out  of  the  bay  ;  and  they  could  see  several  large 
vessels  slowly  moving  on  in  their  various  courses 
in  the  offing. 

While  they  were  thus  employed,  Lucy  went 
up  towards  Mrs.  Star's  door.  The  old  lady  was 
sitting,  as  usual,  in  the  porch,  knitting.  She  heard 
Lucy  coming,  and  said,  — 

"  Well,  Lucy,  it  seems  you  haven't  forgotten 
me." 

"  No,  ma'am,"  said  Lucy  ;  "  and  first  here's 
your  bag." 

"  What  bag  ?  "  said  the  old  lady 
14* 


162  LUCY    ON    THE    SEA-SHORE. 

"  Why,  the  bag  that  the  shells  were  in.  I've 
brought  the  bag  back." 

"  O,  you  might  have  kept  the  bag,"  said  she 
"  I  did  not  mean  to  have  you  bring  that  back. 
But  it's  all  well ;  perhaps  I  shall  want  it.  Put  it 
on  the  table  in  the  house,  and  I'll  put  it  away 
when  I  go  in.  Put  it  right  in  the  middle,  and 
then  I  can  find  it." 

So  Lucy  went  in,  and  put  the  bag  upon  the 
table,  as  exactly  in  the  centre  as  she  could,  and 
tnen  came  back,  and  took  her  seat  upon  the  step, 
which  led  down  from  the  floor  of  the  porch  to  the 
ground,  and  opened  her  book. 

"  The  story  which  I  am  going  to  read  to  you," 
said  Lucy,  "  is  Blind  Jack.  It  is  a  story  in  my 
elephant  book." 

"  Blind  Jack  ?  "  repeated  the  old  lady. 

"  Yes,"  said  Lucy.  "  He  was  a  blind  boy, 
and  his  name  was  Jack  ;  and  so  they  called  him 
Blind  Jack ;  and  that  is  the  name  of  the  story. 
I  thought  you  would  like  to  hear  about  him." 

"  Yes,"  said  Mrs.  Star,  "  I  should.     Begin." 

So  Lucy  began,  and  read  the  story  of  Blind 
Jack,  as  follows. 


163 

CHAPTER    XIV. 

BLIND  JACK. 

"  Once  there  was  a  boy,  and  his  name  was 
Jack.  He  was  blind.  He  could  see  once  when 
he  was  very  small ;  but  he  had  been  very  sick, 
and  at  the  end  of  his  sickness  he  was  blind. 

"  Jack's  father  was  a  boatman,  and  he  lived 
near  the  sea-shore.  When  Jack  was  pretty 
small,  after  he  became  blind,  he  used  to  love  to 
go  down  to  the  shore,  and  sit  on  the  rocks,  and 
hear  the  surf  and  the  breakers.  He  learned  the 
way  down  to  the  shore  and  back,  so  that  he  could 
go  alone  very  well.  He  had  a  long  stick,  which 
he  used  to  hold  out  before  him,  and  feel  about  in 
the  path,  where  he  was  going  to  walk,  lest  there 
might  be  something  accidentally  in  the  way. 

"  At  last,  when  Jack  grew  larger,  his  father 
used  sometimes  to  take  him  out  with  him  in  his 
boat  when  he  went  a-fishing.  Jack  liked  to  go  a- 
fishing,  very  much.  One  day,  his  father  let  him 
try  to  fish,  and  he  caught  a  fish  very  soon.  He 
could  feel  the  fish  when  he  began  to  bite,  by  the 
little  pulling  which  he  made  at  the  line ;  and  so, 
when  he  felt  this  pulling,  he  drew  in  his  line  quick, 
and  found  that  he  had  got  a  fish.  Then  his  fa- 
ther took  the  fish  off,  and  baited  his  hook  again, 


164  LUCY    ON    THE    SEA-SHOItE. 

and  let  him  fish  more.  Jack  found,  after  a  time 
that  he  could  take  the  fish  off  and  bait  his  hook 
himself,  and  before  long  he  learned  to  fish  as  well 
as  his  father. 

"  There  was  another  fisherman,  who  lived  near 
Jack's  father.  He  had  a  boat,  too.  He  often 
used  to  take  his  boy  into  his  boat,  when  Jack's 
father  and  Jack  got  into  their  boat,  and  so  they 
would  go  a-fishing  together.  They  would  go  out 
a  mile  from  the  shore,  and  anchor  their  boats  at  a 
short  distance  from  each  other,  so  that  they  could 
be  within  hearing,  and  there  they  would  remain 
many  hours,  fishing  in  company.  Sometimes  the 
two  men  would  be  in  one  boat,  and  the  two  boys 
in  another,  and  sometimes  they  would  leave  Jack 
in  the  boat  alone,  or  the  other  fisherman's  boy 
alone ;  for,  in  such  cases,  the  other  boat  never 
went  away  far,  and  they  thought  there  was  no 
danger. 

"  One  afternoon,  while  they  were  fishing  about 
a  mile  from  the  shore,  none  of  them,  excepting 
Jack,  had  any  good  luck.  He  succeeded  in 
catching  several  fishes ;  but  the  rest  did  not.  So 
they  concluded  to  leave  Jack  in  one  boat  at 
anchor,  while  they  went  off  about  a  quarter  of  a 
mile,  in  the  other  boat,  to  another  place,  where 
they  thought  that  perhaps  they  could  catch  more 
fishes.  They  told  Jack  that  he  might  go  with 
them  if  he  pleased,  but  he  preferred  staying  where 
he  was.  They  said  that  they  should  come  back 
before  a  great  while,  and  that,  if  he  wanted  any 


BLIND    JACK.  165 

thing,  he  could  call ;  for  they  should  not  go  out  of 
hearing. 

"  They  went  to  the  new  place,  and  they  found 
that  there  were  a  great  many  fishes  there  ;  and 
they  caught  them  very  fast  for  about  half  an  hour, 
when  they  suddenly  observed  a  great  black  cloud 
in  the  sky  corning  towards  them  very  fast.  Then 
they  knew  that  there  was  going  to  be  a  squall." 

"  Yes,"  said  Mrs.  Star,  interrupting  Lucy  here 
in  her  reading.  "  Good  enough  for  them.  They 
ought  to  have  known  better  than  to  have  left  that 
poor  boy  out  there  all  alone." 

"  I  think  so,  too,"  said  Lucy ;  "  but  what  is  a 
squall,  Mrs.  Star  ?  —  a  little  storm  ?  " 

"  O,  it's  a  great  gust  of  wind  that  comes  up 
suddenly.  A  squall  is  a  bad  thing  for  a  small 
boat  in  the  offing.  If  they  don't  look  out,  they'll 
get  blown  off." 

Lucy  did  not  reply  to  this  remark,  but  simply 
resumed  her  reading. 

"  They  immediately  drew  in  their  lines,  and 
pulled  up  their  anchor,  and  began  to  row  as  hard 
as  they  could  to  get  back  to  Jack.  But  before 
they  got  half  way  there,  the  squall  struck  them 
like  a  clap  of  thunder.  They  rowed  against  it, 
with  all  their  strength,  for  a  short  time ;  but  they 
found  that  it  was  of  no  avail.  They  were  drift- 
ing fast  out  to  sea.  So  they  had  to  give  up  the 
attempt  to  reach  Jack  again  immediately,  and  let 
go  their  anchor." 


16G  LUCY    ON    THE    SEA-SHORE. 

"  What  does  that  mean,  Mrs.  Star  ? "  said  Lu- 
cy, interrupting  herself,  and  looking  up  from  the 
book. 

«  Why,  dropping  the  anchor,"  replied  Mrs. 
Star,  "  so  as  to  hold  the  boat  till  the  squall  blew 
over." 

Lucy  seemed  satisfied  with  this  explanation, 
and  resumed  her  reading. 

"  They  let  go  the  anchor,  and,  as  soon  as  it 
reached  the  bottom,  and  got  hold  of  the  rocks,  it 
stopped  the  boat;  and  the  wind  and  the  little 
waves  swept  by  them  with  great  fury.  They 
wanted  to  call  out  to  Jack,  to  tell  him  not  to  be 
afraid,  for  the  squall  would  be  over  in  a  few 
minutes,  and  then  they  would  come  back  to  him. 
But  they  knew  that  it  would  do  no  good  to  call 
to  him  ;  for  the  wind  and  sea  made  such  a  loud, 
roaring  sound,  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  make 
him  hear. 

"  But  they  had  not  been  many  minutes  in  this 
situation,  before  they  found  that  they  were  again 
in  motion.  They  suddenly  perceived  that  the 
boat  was  drifting  along  over  the  water  again,  as 
fast  as  ever." 

"  Yes,"  said  Mrs.  Star ;  "  she  dragged  her 
anchor.     I  thought  it  would  be  so." 

"  No,"  said  Lucy,  "  the  rope  broke." 

"  The  rope  broke !  "  repeated  Mrs.  Star. 

"  Yes,"  said  Lucy  ;  "  you  shall  hear."  So 
Lucy  began  to  read  again. 


BLIND    JACK.  167 

"  They  immediately  went  to  the  bows  of  the 
boat,  to  examine  the  rope  which  was  attached  to 
the  little  grapnel  that  served  for  an  anchor,  and 
found  that  it  had  parted  about  six  feet  under 
water." 

"  Parted  means  broke"  said  Lucy,  interrupt- 
ing herself  again,  to  explain  the  technical  term 
to  Mrs.  Star.     "  Royal  told  me." 

"  Ay,"  said  Mrs.  Star ;  "  go  on." 

li  It  had  parted  about  six  feet  under  water.  It 
was  an  old  rope,  much  worn,  and  was  too  weak 
to  stand  the  strain.  So  the  men  found  that  they 
were  adrift,  and  going  out  to  sea  at  the  rate  of  six 
miles  an  hour. 

"  They  saw,  at  once,  that  they  could  not  row 
against  the  wind  as  Ions;  as  it  continued  to  blow 
so  hard.  They  began  to  look  out  for  land  out- 
side of  them.  There  was  nothing  in  sight  in  the 
direction  in  which  they  were  going,  but  the  open 
sea,  except  one  island,  about  eight  miles  off;  and 
this  was  far  to  the  north  of  the  course  on  which  they 
were  drifting.  They  thought  that  their  only  hope 
of  avoiding  being  carried  away  out  to  sea,  was  to 
row  to  the  north  as  hard  as  they  could,  so  as  to 
fetch  that  island,  if  possible.  They  therefore  put 
out  their  oars,  got  the  boat's  head  to  the  north- 
waid,  and  began  to  pull  for  their  lives. 

"  They  thought  that  the  wind  would  not  blow 
■very  long,  for  such  squalls  were  commonly  over 
ifl  a  few    minutes ;   but  this  one   continued  un- 


168  LUCY    ON    THE     SEA-SHORE. 

abated  much  beyond  the  usual  time.  And  what 
was  worse,  the  wind  gradually  changed  so  as  to 
blow  more  from  the  north,  and  thus  it  headed 
them  off  from  the  island.  They  found,  in  three 
quarters  of  an  hour,  that  it  would  be  impossible 
to  reach  it ;  and  so  they  gave  it  up,  and  then 
turned  their  boat's  head  towards  the  shore,  and 
contented  themselves  with  rowing  moderately  to- 
wards it,  so  as  not  to  exhaust  their  strength,  and 
yet  to  do  something  to  prevent  their  drifting  quite 
so  rapidly  from  the  coast.  As  for  poor  Jack,  they 
did  not  know  what  would  become  of  him. 

"  Now,  Jack,  when  he  heard  the  squall,  com- 
ing, knew  very  well  that  there  was  nothing  for 
him  to  do  but  to  wait  till  his  father  returned.  He 
expected  to  hear  them  coming  every  moment, 
when  the  wind  first  began  to  blow ;  for  he  sup- 
posed that  they  would  have  seen  its  approach,  and 
so  have  tried  to  get  back  to  him  before  it  came 
on.  When  he  found,  however,  that  the  wind 
continued  heavy  and  strong  for  some  time,  he 
was  well  aware  that  they  could  not  row  against 
it ;  and  so  he  knew  that  he  must  wait  patiently 
until  it  was  over.  He  had  no  doubt  that  they 
would  be  able  to  anchor  wherever  they  were. 

"  By  and  by,  the  wind  subsided,  and  Jack 
knew,  by  a  sort  of  glow  which  he  always  perceived 
when  the  sun  was  shining,  that  the  clouds  had 
broken  away,  and  the  sun  had  come  out.  Now, 
he  thought,  they  would  certainly  come.  But 
they  did  not.  He  waited  an  hour.  Then  it 
began    to   grow    dark   again.     He   knew  that  it 


BLIND    JACK.  169 

must  be  night,  or  else  that  more  clouds  were 
coming.  He  thought  it  must  be  night.  The 
air  was  very  calm  and  still.  The  water  was 
smooth,  too,  for  the  wind  had  not  blown  long 
enough  to  raise  the  sea;  and,  besides,  the  wind 
had  been   directly  off  the  shore. 

"Jack  did  not  know  what  to  do.  He  was 
sure,  that  something  had  happened  to  his  father 
and  those  with  him  in  the  other  boat,  so  that  they 
could  not  come  back  for  him.  He  supposed  that 
the  next  morning  people  would  see  him  from  the 
shore,  and  come  off  for  him  ;  but  then  he  did  not 
like  to  stay  out  there  all  night,  in  an  open  boat. 
A  storm  might  arise  in  the  night,  or  a  heavy  sea 
come  in  ;  and  then  his  boat  might  be  torn  from 
its  moorings,  and  dashed  upon  the  rocks.  Still 
he  did  not  see  what  else  he  could  do. 

"  After  a  time,  he  thought  he  could  begin  to 
hear  the  distant  roar  of  the  surf  upon  the  shore. 
As  the  evening  advanced,  the  night  air,  which 
makes  all  sounds  more  distinct,  brought  this  sound 
out  to  him  more  and  more  plainly,  and  at  last  he 
began  to  think  that  he  might  make  it  a  guide  to 
conduct  him  back  to  the  shore.  Jack  could  raw 
as  well  as  any  sailor.  He  liked  to  row,  and  he 
had  often  rowed  his  father  out  and  in,  on  their 
fishing  excursions.  Of  course,  he  had  to  depend 
upon  his  father  entirely  to  direct  the  boat,  as  he 
could  not  see ;  though  he  often  noticed,  as  he 
was  rowing  out,  that  the  sound  of  the  surf  was 
always  behind  them,  and  when  going  in,  that  the 
sound  was  before  them.  So  he  pulled  up  his 
15 


170  LUCY    ON    THE    SEA-SHORE. 

anchor,  secured  it  in  its  proper  place,  coiled  up 
the  rope  neatly,  and  then  put  out  his  oars.  In 
a  moment  more,  his  boat  was  shooting  rapidly 
along  towards  the  land. 

"  He  had  no  difficulty  in  getting  pretty  near 
the  land,  though  it  took  some  time.  At  first,  the 
sound  of  the  surf  was  very  faint  and  distant,  and 
he  had  to  stop,  now  and  then,  to  listen  for  it.  It, 
however,  grew  louder  and  louder,  and  at  last  he 
thought  he  was  very  near  the  shore.  The  sound 
seemed  very  loud  and  near.  Jack  advanced  to- 
wards it  very  carefully,  for  he  thought  it  possible 
that  the  sound  which  he  heard  might  be  that  of 
surf  breaking  over  some  sunken  rocks,  which  lay 
out  at  some  distance  from  the  shore. 

"  He  therefore  turned  his  boat,  and  rowed  off 
to  one  side  a  little  way  ;  and  he  found  that  he  was 
thus  moving  away  from  the  sound  which  he  had 
heard.  Then  he  stopped,  and  listened  again  ;  and 
he  could  distinctly  hear  another  roaring,  much 
farther  in.  So  he  concluded  that  the  sound  which 
he  had  heard  before,  was  only  the  breakers  on  the 
rocks.  When  he  had  gone  so  far  to  one  side,  as 
to  get  well  beyond  the  breakers,  he  then  directed 
his  course  towards  the  shore  again.  He  gradually 
.  drew  nearer  and  nearer  to  the  roaring  of  the 
waves  on  the  shore.  He  knew  that  it  was  the 
shore,  for,  when  he  got  pretty  near,  he  could  hear 
the  surf  not  only  directly  before  him,  but  the 
sound  seemed  to  extend  on  each  side,  very  far 
He  presumed,  therefore,  that  he  was  before  a  long 
line  of  beach,  with  the  waves  rolling  upon  it. 


BLIND    JACK.  171 

"  He  knew  very  well  that  it  would  not  be  safe 
for  him  to  attempt  to  land  through  this  surf.  He 
must  coast  along,  he  thought,  until  he  found  some 
opening  which  would  lead  him  into  a  bay,  where 
he  could  find  a  sheltered  place  to  land.  So  he 
began  to  row  himself  along  in  a  direction  parallel 
to  the  line  of  surf.  When  he  found  that  the 
roaring  of  the  surf  grew  louder,  he  knew  that 
he  was  drawing  too  near ;  and  when  it  grew 
less  loud,  he  inferred  either  that  he  was 
drawing  off  from  the  shore,  or  that  the  shore 
itself  was  receding ;  and  in  that  case  he  turned 
in  more,  so  as  to  keep  near  the  line  where  the 
sea  was  breaking. 

"  At  last,  he  heard  breakers  directly  before  him, 
while  the  sound  continued  unabated  along  the 
shore  by  his  side.  He  was  glad  to  hear  this,  for 
he  supposed  that  it  was  a  point  which  put  out  at 
that  place,  and  he  hoped  that,  if  he  could  only  get 
round  it,  he  could  find  a  sheltered  bay  beyond,  or, 
at  least,  a  line  of  shore  not  so  much  exposed  to 
the  sea  as  where  he  then  was,  so  that  he  might 
land.  And  this  proved  to  be  the  case.  He  had 
some  difficulty  in  getting  round  the  point ;  but, 
when  he  did  get  round,  he  found  that  the  sound 
of  the  waves  rolling  upon  the  shore  was  much 
more  feeble,  although  it  seemed  equally  near. 
He  was  very  glad  to  find  that  this  was  so,  for  it 
was  getting  quite  dark,  and  this  made  him  feel 
very  lonely.  It  is  true,  he  could  not  see  enough 
to  be  of  any  service  to  him  in  finding  his  way  ; 
yet  the  sensation  of  light  in  his  eyes  was  pleasant 


172  LUCY    ON    THE    SEA-SHORE. 

and  cheering  ;  but  now,  when  it  became  utterly 
dark,  his  situation  began  to  seem  far  more  desolate 
and  gloomy. 

"  At  length,  he  appeared  to  come  to  a  place 
where  he  heard  nothing  but  a  ripple  on  the  shore  , 
and  it  seemed  pretty  near  him,  too.  He  pushed 
the  blade  of  one  of  his  oars  down  into  the  water 
and,  to  his  great  joy,  he  found  that  he  could  touch 
bottom.  In  a  moment  more,  the  bows  of  his  boat 
ran  up  gently  on  the  sand. 

'•'  He  stepped  out,  drew  his  boat  up  a  little  way 
and  groped  around.  He  found  that  he  was  upor 
a  broad  beach.  The  first  thing,  then,  he  knew, 
was  to  secure  his  father's  boat.  So  h?  dragged  it 
up  as  far  as  he  could  out  of  the  water.  But  he 
could  not  draw  it  far.  He  judged,  from  the  con- 
dition of  the  beach,  that  the  tide  must  be  nearly 
out ;  and  he  was  afraid  that  it  would  come  and 
float  off  his  boat,  while  he  was  trying  to  find  his 
way  to  some  houses  on  the  land.  To  prevent 
this,  he  took  out  the  grapnel,  and  carried  it  up  on 
the  beach  as  far  as  he  could,  and  secured  it  in  the 
sand. 

"  Then  he  began  to  grope  his  way  along  to- 
wards the  bank.  His  first  object  was  to  find  some 
bushes  where  he  could  cut  himself  a  stick.  He 
could  always  walk  a  great  deal  better  with  a 
stick ;  for  by  means  of  it  he  could  feel  before  him, 
to  ascertain  whether  any  tiling  was  in  the  way. 
He  thought  that,  if  he  should  go  up  the  bank,  he 
should  get  a  stick  from  some  of  the  trees  or  bushes 
which  might  be  growing  there. 


BLIND    JACK.  173 

"  He  found,  however,  that  the  bank  was  very 
steep  and  gravelly,  so  that  he  could  not  climb  up. 
The  foot  of  it  had  been  washed  away  by  the  sea. 
and  what  remained  was  almost  perpendicular,  and 
was  formed  of  loose  stones  and  gravel.  He  did 
not  know  how  high  it  was,  but  at  any  rate  it  was 
higher  than  he  could  reach.  So  he  concluded 
to  go  along  the  shore  a  little  way,  hoping  to  find 
a  place  where  the  bank  might  be  lower. 

"  He,  therefore,  returned  to  the  edge  of  the  wa- 
ter, and  began  to  walk  along  slowly  on  the  sand, 
when  he  happened  to  recollect  that  there  was  a 
boat-hook  in  the  boat,  which  he  thought  would 
answer  very  well  for  a  feeler.  He,  therefore, 
groped  his  way  back  to  the  boat,  and  took  out 
the  boat-hook.  This  boat-hook  was  a  pole, 
about  six  feet  long,  with  an  iron  point  in  one  end, 
and  also  a  hook  formed  on  the  same  piece  of  iron. 
It  was  to  be  used  when  the  boat  came  up  to  the 
rocks,  or  to  a  wharf,  or  to  another  vessel.  By 
means  of  the  point,  Jack's  father,  in  the  boat, 
could  push  against  a  rock,  or  a  timber, -and  fend 
off,  as  he  called  it,  so  as  to  prevent  the  boat's 
striking  too  hard  ;  and  with  the  hook  he  could 
catch  hold  of  some  edge,  or  projection,  where  he 
wanted  to  land,  and  so  draw  the  boat  up.  This 
boat-hook  was  rather  too  heavy  for  Jack  to  use 
as  a  feeler;  but  still,  as  he  could  not  find  any 
bushes  from  which  he  might  cut  a  slender  stick, 
he  concluded  that  he  could  make  it  do. 

"  He  walked  along  on  the  beach,  feeling  his 
way  with  the  boat-hook,  which  he  held  before  him. 
15* 


174  LUCY    ON    THE    SEA-SHORE. 

He  found  that  he  could  get  along  without  any 
trouble.  He  perceived,  also,  that  the  sound  of  the 
surf  grew  fainter  and  fainter,  as  if  he  was  leaving 
it  behind  him  ;  and  he  concluded  that  he  was 
going  along  the  shore  of  some  little  bay.  He 
was  glad  of  this,  for  he  knew  that  the  bay,  so  far 
as  it  extended,  would  conduct  him  in  where  he 
wanted  to  go ;  for  the  road  on  which  all  the 
houses  were  situated,  was  nearly  a  mile  from  the 
shore,  and  parallel  to  it.  If  the  bay,  therefore, 
should  extend  a  quarter  of  a  mile  back,  it  would 
conduct  him  so  far  inland,  and  that,  too,  by  a 
beach  on  which  he  could  walk  much  more  easily 
than  over  uneven  ground. 

"  He  went  on  without  difficulty  for  some  dis- 
tance. At  last,  he  found  that  the  line  of  the  shore 
began  to  turn.  So  he  thought  that  he  had  got  to 
the  head  of  the  bay.  He  walked  about  very 
carefully,  examining  the  place  by  feeling  with 
his  boat-hook,  and  also  by  listening  to  the  surf; 
and  at  length  he  satisfied  himself  that  he  had 
arrived  at  the  head  of  the  bay.  He  knew,  there- 
fore, that  he  must  soon  leave  the  shore,  and  strike 
off  through  the  fields,  though  he  did  not  see  how 
he  could  guide  himself  so  as  to  go  on  in  a  straight 
line.  He  was  very  sorry  to  lose  the  sound  of  the 
surf.  It  had  not  only  thus  far  served  as  a  guide, 
but  it  had  been  a  great  deal  of  company  for  him. 
He  was  sorry,  therefore,  to  go  away  into  a  region 
of  utter  silence,  as  well  as  darkness  ;  but  he  knew 
that  there  was  no  alternative. 

"  As  he  left  the  sandy  beach,  he  ascended  first 


BLIND    JACK.  175 

a  sort  of  ridge  covered  with  round  stones.  They 
had  been  washed  up  by  the  sea.  It  was  difficult 
walking  over  it.  After  he  had  passed  this  ridge; 
he  descended  again  a  little,  and  came  upon  a 
level  place,  where  his  feet  sunk,  at  every  step, 
into  loose  sand.  He  soon  crossed  this,  however, 
and  at  the  end  of  it  he  found  a  perpendicular 
bank  about  as  high  as  his  head.  He  could  reach 
the  top  of  it  with  his  boat-hook.  With  the  help 
of  his  boat-hook,  he  climbed  up  this  bank,  and 
found  himself  upon  grass  ground. 

"  The  first  thing  which  he  did  was,  to  hold  up 
his  hand,  to  see  if  there  was  any  wind  ;  for,  if  there 
was,  he  thought  he  could  guide  himself  somewhat 
by  it.  There  was  a  gentle  evening  breeze  blow- 
ing directly  towards  him,  as  he  stood  upon  the 
bank,  with  his  back  to  the  sea.  So  he  determined 
to  go  on,  and  to  keep  the  wind  in  his  face  all  the 
time ;  and  by  this  means,  he  hoped  to  go  straight 
away  from  the  shore,  and  so,  at  length,  strike  the 
road. 

"  This  wind,  however,  on  which  he  at  first  de- 
pended so  much,  gradually  died  away,  until  he 
could  not  perceive  it  at  all ;  and,  after  groping 
his  way  for  half  an  hour  over  rough  ground,  and 
so  covered  with  rocks  and  bushes  that  he  was 
often  turned  aside  from  his  course,  he  began  to 
feel  very  much  disheartened  and  discouraged. 
He  had  a  great  mind  to  give  up,  and  wait  until 
morning,  in  hopes  that  somebody  would  come  out 
and  find  him.  He  concluded,  however,  to  try  a 
little  longer.     He  went  on,  and  in  a  few  moments 


176  LUCY    ON    THE    SEA-SHOBE. 

be  felt  something  with  his  boat-hook  rising  before 
him,  like  a  wall,  and  stopping  his  way.  On 
examining  it  more  fully,  he  found  that  it  was  a 
fence.  He  was  very  much  pleased  that  he  had 
found  a  fence ;  '  For  now,'  said  he  to  himself, 
'  I  can  go  straight  again.' 

"  The  fence,  of  course,  crossed  the  line  of  direc- 
tion in  which  he  had  been  advancing.  He  would 
have  been  better  pleased,  if  it  had  coincided  with 
it,  so  that  he  could  have  gone  directly  on.  Still 
he  thought  it  would  not  take  him  far  out  of  the 
way  ;  for  pretty  soon,  he  supposed,  it  would  con- 
duct him  to  the  corner  of  the  field,  and  then  he 
could  turn  and  follow  the  other  fence,  which,  he 
supposed,  would  conduct  him  more  directly  up 
into  the  land. 

"  As  he  was  walking  along  by  the  side  of  this 
fence,  feeling  his  way  very  carefully  as  he  ad- 
vanced, suddenly  the  end  of  his  boat-hook  went 
down  into  a  deep  place  before  him.  He  stopped, 
and  then  he  advanced  cautiously  to  the  brink, 
and,  examining  the  place  with  his  boat-hook,  he 
found  that  it  was  the  channel  of  a  little  creek, 
with  water  in  the  bottom  of  it  flowing  towards 
the  sea. 

"  On  reflection,  he  concluded  that  it  would  be 
better  for  him  to  leave  the  fence,  and  follow  the 
creek  ;  for  there  was  some  uncertainty  about  the 
fences,  but  the  creek,  though  it  might  wind  about 
for  a  time,  must  lead  him,  in  the  end,  far  inland. 
The  creek,  he  knew,  must  come  from  the  interior 
of  the  country,  and,  of  course,  must  somewhere 


BLINB    JACK.  177 

cross  the  road  ;  and  he  knew,  if  he  followed  the 
creek,  that  he  could  tell  when  he  got  to  the  road, 
by  his  finding  a  bridge  across  it. 

"  So  he  left  the  fence,  and  began  to  grope  his 
way  along  by  the  bank  of  the  creek.  He  had 
now  to  go  more  slowly ;  for  the  roughness  and 
difficulty  of  the  way  increased.  At  first,  the 
course  of  the  creek  was  very  crooked  ;  but  he  fol- 
lowed it,  thinking  that,  if  he  persevered,  it  would 
certainly  bring  him  out  right  in  the  end." 

As  Lucy  finished  reading  that  sentence,  she 
looked  up,  and  saw  Marielle  standing  before  her. 

"  Why,  Marielle  ! "  said  Lucy  ;  "  I  did  not  know 
that  you  were  here." 

"  I  just  came,"  said  Marielle.  "  Martha  wants 
to  know  if  you  have  not  almost  finished  your 
story." 

"  Why,  pretty  nearly,"  said  Lucy,  turning  over 
the  leaves  of  her  book.  "  I've  got  two  or  three 
more  pages  to  read." 

"  Besides,"  said  Marielle,  "  Martha  says  that 
she  is  afraid  the  tide  will  rise  so  high  that  we 
can't  get  back." 

"  O,  well,  then,"  said  Lucy,  rising  hastily  from 
her  seat ;  "  let  us  go  now." 

"  But,  then,  what  shall  I  do  for  the  rest  of  my 
story  ? "  said  Mrs.  Star. 

"  Why,  I  will  come  down  some  other  day,  and 
finish  it,"  replied  Lucy. 

"  Well,  that  will  do ;  only  tell  me  now  whether 
Jack  got  home." 


178 


LUCY    ON    THE    SEA-SHORE. 


"  Yes,"  said  Lucy,  "  he  got  home.  He  fol- 
lowed the  brook  up  until  he  came  to  a  bridge, 
and  so  he  found  the  road  ;  and  then  he  walked 
along  the  road  until  he  got  to  a  house,  and  the 
people  in  the  house  let  him  stay  there  all  that 
night,  and  in  the  morning  he  went  home  in  a 
wagon." 

"  And  what  became  of  his  father  ?  "  said  Mrs. 
Star. 

"  Why,  his  father  got  blown  out  to  sea ;  but 
when  the  wind  stopped  blowing,  they  rowed  back 
again,  and  got  home  the  next  morning  just  as 
Jack  was  driving  up  to  the  door." 

So  saying,  Lucy  bade  Mrs.  Star  good-by,  and 
went  away.  She  and  Marielle  found  Martha 
waiting  for  them,  with  Willie  in  his  carriage,  all 
ready  to  return  homewards. 


179 

CHAPTER    XV. 

GOING  HOME. 

Lady  Jane  and  the  girls  remained,  after  this, 
several  days  at  the  sea-shore.  They  had  many 
pleasant  walks  and  rides ;  and  one  clay  they  went 
out  with  Mr.  St.  John  in  a  sail-boat  to  take  a  sail. 
Lucy  did  not  like  the  sail-boat  so  well  as  she  did 
the  small  skiff  propelled  by  oars,  in  which  she 
and  Marielle  took  their  first  excursion  upon  the 
water  with  Mr.  St.  John.  The  sail-boat  tipped 
to  one  side  or  to  the  other,  in  such  a  manner  that 
Lucy  was  sometimes  very  much  afraid  that  it 
would  tip  over.  Mr.  St.  John  assured  her  that 
there  was  no  danger;  but,  notwithstanding  this,  she 
felt  much  more  safe  in  the  little  skiff,  which  went 
along  very  even  and  steady. 

At  last,  the  time  came  for  them  to  return  home. 
Marielle's  uncle  came  down  from  the  city,  to 
carry  back  Willie  and  his  mother ;  and  Parker 
was  going  to  drive  Lady  Jane  and  the  children, 
They  were  to  go  to  the  city  in  the  afternoon  ; 
in  the  morning  of  the  same  day,  Lady  Jane 
let  Parker  drive  all  the  children  down  to  the  light- 
house, with  Martha  to  take  care  of  them.  They 
went  to  bid  Mrs.  Star  good-by.  Lucy  forgot  to 
carry  down  her  elephant  book,  to  finish  reading 
the  story,  and  Mrs.  Star  forgot  to  ask  for  it.     As 


ISO  LUCY    ON    THE    SEa.  SHORE. 

Lucy  had  told  her  the  substance  of  the  conclusion 
of  it,  she  had  dismissed  it  from  her  mind.  Lucy, 
however,  did  not  forget  to  carry  some  oranges, 
which  Mrs.  Star  was  very  glad  to  receive.  Then 
Marielle  and  Lucy  bade  Mrs.  Star  good-by  ;  and 
they  said  that,  if  they  ever  came  to  the  sea-shore 
again,  they  should  certainly  come  down  to  the 
lighthouse  and  see  her,  the  first  thing. 

They  liked  riding  all  together  in  the  carriage 
very  much,  and  Marielle  said,  — 

"  1  mean  to  ask  my  mother  to  let  us  children 
have  one  carriage,  going  back  to  the  city,  and  she 
and  uncle  and  aunt  can  have  the  other." 

"  Yes,"  said  Lucy,  "  and  Martha  can  go  with 
us,  to  take  care  of  us.     Will  you,  Martha  ?  " 

Martha  had  no  objection  to  this  arrangement ; 
and  when,  at  dinner-time,  Marielle  proposed  it  to 
her  mother  and  aunt,  she  was  very  glad  to  find 
that  they  had  no  objection  either.  Accordingly, 
in  riding  to  the  city  that  afternoon,  the  children, 
with  Martha,  had  the  carriage  all  to  themselves. 

They  spent  one  day  in  the  city,  and  Marielle's 
aunt  was  so  much  pleased  with  Lucy's  gentleness 
and  docility,  that  she  asked  Lady  Jane  to  be  sure 
and  bring  her  with  Marielle  when  she  came  to 
town  again.  They  then  bade  Willie  good-by, 
and  Marielle's  aunt,  and  lastly  Washington,  who 
stood  upon  the  steps,  and  made  them  a  very  low 
bow,  as  they  drove  away  from  the  door. 

THE    END. 


